


Power Trick

by psiejqbgk



Category: Jojotuber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:55:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25261210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psiejqbgk/pseuds/psiejqbgk
Summary: "Who are you…?”Who was she? Stupid question, she reasons.She was…“I… I don’t know.”
Relationships: The Shuckmeister/Riverdude Covers
Kudos: 4





	1. Rock Tomb

**Author's Note:**

> What is up you guys, Vuvu here. So me and @And_Den thought writing a short story inspired by fire emblem three houses for the fanfic contest and now it's midnight and we've written a short little novella. god bless. enjoy
> 
> ((also my bad fam, Shuck has a new stand called Rhapsody in Blue that I completely forgot about when i started writing this.))

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_   
_ _ I’ve had to double-check my belongings to ensure everything was set. Her many skirts (gaudy, but I trust you that in confidence); our light, yet resilient clothes, a beautiful shade of regal purple in addition to an array of books to keep us entertained till we reach the 34th Rule. (Though sightseeing as we pass through the various Rules should occupy enough of our time already). _

_ And of course, the ring she gave me, still on its place on my finger since we were children. She teases me that when I get married (and become a ‘miserable husband’ as she puts it oh so delicately), I’ll finally find a better ring to replace it. I fire back that I’ll simply double them up on the finger, a reminder of both sides of a family I intend to build. _

_ The journey will be long, but at least she will be there in the carriage with me. _

* * *

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ Writing is difficult when on the road, but I have her here to hold the inkwell so it doesn’t spill. We’ve perfected the art of it, you see; making sure our hands keep steady while the dirt roads try their best to tip us over. I try not to keep looking out of the window because she’ll make fun of me when I cry at each flower getting crushed under-wheel. _

_ I do not doubt that she’s keeping her own journal as immaculate as I do, during which it will be my turn to hold the inkwell, and my turn to spill little ugly blots onto her paper as revenge for when she did so to me when we were seven.  _

_ Or maybe I won’t, depending on if she reads this page over my shoulder or⟿ _

_ ❋ _

_☁_ _._




⬤

* * *

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ We’ve reached the 17th Rule now, nearly halfway through our journey. The trees seem so much greener than back home as they pass by. _

_ She points at a pretty bird she sees in the sky, but I tell her that I can’t see it. ‘Higher’ she says but I’m getting the feeling that she might just be messing with me. _

_ I brought up how the horses seemed especially spooked throughout our trip. The coachman had reassured me that he couldn’t see any danger, nor had he received word from the other Requiem Staff of any danger spotted. _

_ If aught ill befell, or whatever, we could use our Stands to defend ourselves. Somehow, we ended up having to reassure the coachmen of his safety after my comments made him paranoid... Maybe we should have chosen an older member to drive us to our coronation… _

* * *

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ I can’t imagine many people in the 12th Rule would be willing to brave the harsh roads and winds just for a chance to assassinate us. As such, I have little to no fear for our safety under the watchful eyes of the Requiem Staff. _

_ The trees are yet a different shade here, not green or teal, but red and orange. It’s like the forest is kept in perpetual autumn because of the climate. _

_ At night, the sky is awash in stars. Seemingly, the land of each Rule ahead yields stars as bright as these. I recognize many different constellations, and even the starlight alone is enough for me to open a reference book to observe them. She seems to think they’re a tad too bright to sleep, though. I wouldn’t mind having them extinguished throughout the journey if it meant she could fall asleep again. _

_ She’s worried her Stand isn’t getting enough sunlight, and I worry that I don’t have enough room to play piano in this tiny carriage. _

* * *

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ She's complaining about not being able to go fishing now, and that her fishing pole is packed away safely in the carriage with all of their things. _

_ Maybe next time I’ll let her teach me how to gut one properly. I’m able to stomach (reluctantly) killing animals now after doing so for so long with only muscle memory just as she does. Still, it’s always strange how after I’ve gotten my nerves steady enough to carve a deer, the idea of slicing open fish is too much for me. Whenever I swim in the lakes, they often enjoy it when I pet them. Fish are cute like that. _

_ It’s the eyes, I think. The ones that stare like they’re friends, and I’m betraying their trust by taking a knife to their stomachs or letting them die. _

_ Come to think of it, she has eyes like a fish does. _

} ( >●) ← Illustration for clarity.

* * *

_ Entry XX. 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ The hardest stretch of the journey lies before us now, having our carriage being driven over precarious territory. _

_ A sheer drop lies below us from where we drive on a path barely wide enough for a carriage, worn into the edge of the cliff tens of thousands of feet above the ground. She insists that if she cranes out the carriage window enough, she can see the Stream below, nestled among the lush expanse of the auburn forest, and connecting the land through the many Rules. _

_ She’s still holding the ink pot, but I’m taking advantage of the fact to hold her hand steady so she doesn’t fall out of the window. She just waves me off when I tell her ‘take care of yourself.’ From how I see it, she was practically throwing herself off the cliff. _

_ But above all, I do hope that she---------------- _

  
  
  


The journal was launched out of my hands faster than I could realize what was happening.

All of a sudden the world was submerged into ice-cold water.

I felt a lurching, and we were all launched into the air in slow motion. Each page fluttered weightless in the air and every little vibration sent my ears into a silent void. A detonation of white sparks and strings unraveled before me, stabbing my eyes with its heat and punching, poking, little holes into my lungs with the smell of gunpowder.

We were falling then, like a wave pushing us down, slow and deliberate.

We were falling then, feeling like an asteroid being sent to pierce through the earth to lay underground.

I was holding her hand.

Terrified she would fall out of the carriage; she was hanging out of the window, the wind whipping against her hair nearly hiding the blooms of red. Her eyes wide, mouth forming words I couldn’t hear.

Each spark of heat that speared her was a dagger to my heart; each drop of red was a slash against my throat.

It felt still. It felt wrong.

A sudden falter weighed down, flipping over the entire carriage midair and slamming #@%) and I into the cliff face.

Warm crimson splattered onto my face as 0)*# was crushed like a flower.

The cliff gave way under the force of the impact, and I could feel the sensation of rock sliding against rock vibrating against my insides, all jagged edges and crushing weight as we fell. 

The ground approached fast enough to

The cliff was collapsing on top of us, headstone by headstone blocking out any sunligh

The ringing in my ears wouldn’t stop, static and malice interlacing wit

Gravity pulled us lower still, hurtling us, a ball of fire and metal towards the 

My eyes, my body, my heart, my lungs. Her eyes, her body, her heart, her blood.

Body.

Heart

Blood.

My eyes, seeing everything, seeing too much, saw nothing.

I was holding her hand.

  
  


_ 7th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ Am I dead? _

_ I can’t hear anything. I can’t see anything.  _

_ Where am I? How did I get here? _

_ All my senses have been rendered redundant. There is nothing for me here. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I can’t sleep. Every dream is the same shade of nothingness. _

_ There is no sound. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ When you only leave your right eye open, it’s what your left eye sees. Not darkness, but an absence of vision. It’s maddening. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I’m not lonely anymore. Someone told me to speak louder. _

_ I haven’t said anything. I can’t see anyone. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Why do I live? Just to suffer? I can’t see anything. _

_ Who did this to me? What did I do to deserve this? _

_ Something hurts inside me. I can’t see what it is. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I thought I wouldn’t be able to cry anymore. As always, I am proven wrong. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I heard someone say ‘Look at the stars.’ _

_ It hurts. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I heard a scream outside. There is life outside. I try screaming back. _

_ No one hears me. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I’m not hungry anymore. I’m not thirsty anymore. I’m not hopeful anymore. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Who’s hand have I been holding all this time…? _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ I am stuck in a suspension. My ears seem to be making their own music. _

_ It’s a B8, playing for days. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ ‘Listen,’ someone says. But I can’t hear anyone. ‘Higher,’ _

_ I can’t stop hearing anymore. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Where am I? Why am I? _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Who am I? _

  
  
  
  
  


A rumbling in the rocks quiets any other thought.

Then, a drop of water drips onto her face from the darkness. Registering as blood for a brief, terrified moment, before she realizes its coldness.

The rumbling gets louder still, as does her sense of dread at the thought of-

BOOM.

A loud noise of rock meeting ground resonates through the void, and she curls in on herself, trying to block out the sound.

Again…? Is it happening again…?! What’s happening?!

She felt like death for the past few days. Now she feels as though she may really be dying.

Shaking as she feels more rocks slam against the earth and rumble through the ground into her bones, she hides her face and goes rigid. 

Then through her eyelids, she feels sunlight pierce through. She forgets how to blink, then remembers how to see once again.

She looks up, seeing a man through the sunbeams.

The sunlight makes his blond hair glow, and it reflects off of his muscles and the fabric of his clothes. A high collared jacket, with belts nonsensical enough in pattern that she begins to think of him as an angel sent from above.

Their eyes meet.

She had almost forgotten the color of the sky.

The man reaches out his hand to her and she takes it. Acutely aware of her own trembling as he pulls her from the earth and back into the sun. It almost burns when she sees it again, but the pain is coming from all over her body, and she barely registers when she hits the ground.

He’s speaking, saying something that hardly manifests in her flooded mind.

“-kay…? Hello…? Oh, god, when people reported screaming I didn’t believe someone was actually  _ under _ all that rubble.” He looks concerned. “I only barely saw the wood splinters poking out. Is there anyone else? Just how long have you been stuck there?”

How long indeed. Long enough to forget the feeling of wind on her face. Long enough to forget the warmth of another body against her own as she’s held tight to ease her trembling. He smells like petrichor, the calm after the rain, and it scares her just how much he gets her to calm down.

“What’s your name?” He asks, and she frantically nods in response, barely able to control her neck.

Yes. She can hear. She can understand the question.

“My-” She coughs, the rawness of her voice apparent after so many days screaming and silence in darkness. The kind stranger suddenly is popping open a flask and tipping it into her mouth. 

This was another thing she nearly forgot. The feeling of water.

“My name is…” She tries again after taking a parched sip, the answer coming clearly to her. “My name is Shuckmeisterin."

“I’m the Man of the River,” he says, though the words bounce around in her head and refuse to be understood. How strange, a name that sounds so familiar yet so foreign to her. “Let me tell you, it was not easy getting all those boulders aside. I mean, my bulging muscles aside, I’m just one guy, you know?”

But that ‘one guy’ just possibly saved her life, she slowly realizes. She would have died in the darkness, forgotten and lost if it weren’t for him.

“Your clothes are all in tatters. Man, they look like they cost a lot…” River said, looking at her with the pity evident in his eyes as he tries simultaneously to hold her close and to fish around his bag to produce handkerchiefs and various healing ointments. “And to be buried under the rocks like that… Who are you anyway…?”

Who was she? Stupid question, she reasons.

She was…

...

Who _ was _ she?

Unlike before, she finds herself pulling at the back of her mind, pushing her fingers through the cracks in the glass to try and extract some forgotten something. Digging and prodding, yet unable to piece anything together.

Who... Was she…?

“I…” Who. “I don’t know.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


This ‘Man of the River’ turns out to be just as much a man of medicine, propping her up against a tree to treat all her scabs and injuries. The bleeding has long since stopped in the darkness, but her torn clothes expose all the ugly bruises and scrapes sustained during the fall.

Getting a closer look at herself, she finds herself agreeing with his previous statement. Her clothes do look expensive, a purple fur-lined shawl and puffed up sleeves that would’ve been pristine white and warm had it not been torn up in the fall. Even her pants are torn at the knees, and the only thing surviving the fall being purple boots. Purple leather with gold embellishments couldn’t have been easy to make.

“I’m surprised you didn’t break any bones. I mean, I’m no healer but falling from a height like that…” This Riverman says, tying off a handkerchief around her arm to protect the last healing wound, now slathered in a strange medicinal poultice she didn’t understand. “There we go, that should hold it together, huh, Shuckette?”

Shuckette? That isn't her name. At least, she doesn’t think it is. Come to think of it, what’s her family name? That seems important to her to know, so the fact that she doesn’t know it is very concerning. But she hardly knows anything anymore, so she’ll gladly take a nickname in the place of nothing.

Shuckette tries moving the hand as best she can to test the strength of it as he pushes aside his bow to rummages through his rucksack. 

A loaf of bread is held before her.

“I can hunt later but-” Shuck doesn’t let him finish before she’s lunging at the loaf of bread, shoveling it into her mouth with the grace of a feral hog trained by a cabbage.

“Wow okay, rude.”

Shuckette pretends not to hear him as she shoves the bread down her throat like a proper dying man. Fitting.

“Water,” She chokes out when she’s done, and he hands over the flask again to pour a cool ocean down her throat, stopping when she spills some over herself. “Thank you.”

“Kinda doubting your noble status now with those manners,” River jokes, but Shuckette doesn’t laugh. “Yeesh, tough crowd huh?”

“I think I nearly died.”

“Fair.”

Shuckette finishes the rest of the water in the flask and hastily wipes her mouth. “Do you know how I ended up here…?” She trails off, taking in the orange forest around her. “Wherever _ here  _ is anyway…”

"That's what I'd like to know, too. Not everyday you find a person stuck under a cliff round these parts,” River replied. Fair enough, she supposes.

"Can I have my flask back?"

"Oh right."

Shuckette almost doesn’t want to look at the cliff anymore, anxious about the entire ordeal.

“What are you going to do now?” Shuckette asks, not knowing what else there is  _ to _ do. Having to trust a stranger was terrifying, but not nearly as terrifying as being alone again in nightfall.

“Hmm… Yeah, I guess you do need help, huh? You kind of look like a mess.”

Shuckette bats him on the arm on instinct.

“What? It’s true!”

“Doesn’t mean you have to say it, you ass!” Shuckette huffs. River still has a goofy smile on his face at seeing Shuckette more lively and significantly less of a dying pallor with food and water back in her system. “Anyway, you can’t leave me out here.”

“I can’t?” River says.

Shuckette knows it's a joke. Just a joke to lighten the situation, and make her feel calm after what she was just pulled out of. 

But she can’t stop the feeling of a string inside her suddenly pulling tense at the thought of being left alone. Her voice breaks.

_ “Please-?” _

This gets River to snap to attention, seeing her helpless and in need.  _ Ah, shit,  _ he thinks.  _ Fuck, I really was being an ass. _

“I… It’s not like a Guardian could leave you here, anyways. Look! You see that little engraving on your boot buckle?” River points at Shuckette’s boot tucked away in the gold embellishment displaying a triangle surrounded by a rectangle. A simple pattern, sure, but not one that he could miss now. River shows off a bracelet looped around his wrist, the same symbol pressed into the metal cuff. “It’s my job to help. And higher-ups gotta band together. You get it right?”

It seems distantly familiar to her. The symbols have a meaning, definitely, but she just can’t for the life of her remember what.

She didn’t understand a thing.

“Sure,” She says instead, feeling the string inside her slowly loosen and return to slack.

“Once you’re able to walk, I’ll escort you to a guy. I know a friend who knows people. Well, more than anyone else in the Rules, at least. He might know who you are,” River explains, carefully. “Longest journey I’ve ever had for an escort mission but, hey, I can’t just leave you alone here, right, miss?”

“And…” She starts, suddenly feeling a lot more scared as she keeps on searching for a name she can’t remember inside her head. “And this person will know who I am? What happened to me?”

“I can promise that.”

“And you can take me back to wherever it is that I came from?”

“Only if you want to join me,” River says, sounding genuine as he extends his hand to Shuck once more, leaning close to gaze into her eyes with his glimmering blues. “How about it? You willing to follow me back?”

Shuck’s breath hitches at their sudden proximity, she then sighs, hand coming up to shake River’s.

Not like she has a choice. 

“Thank you.”


	2. Sleep Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuck and River go on a nice stroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy who doesn't love worldbuilding. This is a long one boys

“You’re handling this remarkably well for someone who just drove off a cliff,” River says, as he leads Shuck out of the dense forest and to walk along, fittingly, a river, running through the forest and into the far distance.

“I didn’t drive off,” Shuck insists, somehow knowing this as true.

“Hm. Didn’t look like a rock slide either. Whoever you are, you must be pretty important for someone to try and kill you.”

Shuck’s blood runs cold, but she hides it with a scowl and a snappy retort. “Is your lack of emotional awareness a conscious endeavor? Or should I pity you even more than I do now.”

“I- Uh, what?”

“I don’t want to be forced into asking you to refrain from jokes about people being after my head.”

River’s eyes darted away again, unable to look her in the eye for saying such a thing. He should say something. A comment about how fancy her speech got suddenly, and how he doesn’t doubt her suspected noble background anymore, but he doesn’t want to risk saying anything else. Shuck herself had already turned away, gazing somewhere up into the sky.

“Where are you taking me anyway?” Shuck asks, breaking the silence.

“My guy is settled in the 35th Rule right now, so it’ll be a long trek from where we are in the 12th,” River rattles off now that he has the chance to do so. “I can navigate the Stream to a small village soon where we can rest, and then to the 19th for some horses. Sound good?”

What?

“Huh?” Shuck says intelligently. “He’s settled in the where now?”

“The 35th Rule.”

“The _what_ rule?”

“35th…?” River reiterates, puzzled. He turns to see Shuck staring at him now, confusion evident on her face. “Oh, your memory really needs help, huh? Do you not remember what the Rules are?”

A sharp pang fires off somewhere in her head, and she’s nearly knocked over by the force of it. 

An arm circles around her back, holding her gently to catch her. River. River is holding her. Oh.

Has… Has her face always felt this warm…?

River quickly rights her and backs away. Shuck is too busy composing herself to notice how equally red River’s ears have become.

“Tell me everything, please, I think I’m a quick study…!” She says, though it’s fast enough to miss if you aren’t paying attention.

“Yes-!” River says, suddenly lively as he clears his throat. “Our land has yadda yadda since the beginning of time. Dah dah dah fights for land among its people which led to agreements and conventions being drawn up blah blah. And so…!”

His hands move every which way as he talks to express himself, even if the words he’s saying are less than functional. It’s incredibly endearing despite everything.

“Each major section of the continent is separated into territories known as Rules, 47 in all, though they’re not necessarily arranged in numerical order, unfortunately. With each Rule, there is a hierarchy of power. The common folk making up the majority of the working population. They’re also called the followers, living peacefully in the lands governed by those higher up. Then, they’re outranked by knights and those who work the lands of those above them, the nobility. Even the highest ranking guards are outranked by Rule Enforcers and above.

“The Rule Enforcers are the last line of defense to protect those of only the highest of powers. Mostly, they act as the entourage for the Rulers, the highest rank in the land that governs and is in charge of their respective Rule.

“And last but not least, directly underneath the Rulers -- but valiant like no other -- are The Stream Guardians, fearless, dashing, and oh-so-painfully-handsome souls chosen to not only watch over the various Rules and their people, but also the nature, having a special ability of navigation tied to the many Streams flowing through the land.”

He grins, all pearly whites and self-importance and it doesn’t take long for Shuck to realize just which of those positions River is.

“That’s you?” She asks, monotone.

River points to himself and beams even wider. “That’s me.”

“As a Stream Guardian, we’re more of the ‘working from the shadows’ kind of people, and it falls under the job description to help out even suspected nobles like you. If my hunch is correct -- you’ll find that it’s the default, you see -- the reason you have the mark of the nobility shows that you have followers in a Rule somewhere. And my guy knows his Rules really well.”

“And you’re taking me to the 35th Rule to meet him?”

“Yup. And do you remember what we call the common folk?”

“Followers.”

“Hm. Who’s above the knights?”

“The nobility.”

“And who’s ranked directly under the Rulers?”

“The Stream Guardians.”

“Oh ho? And just how many Rules are there?”

“47.”

“Ding ding, full marks,” River laughs and strangely enough Shuck prides herself on it. “Man, a memory like that and you still forgot who you were. Incredible. Outstanding-”

Shuck thwacked him upside the head. She had to tiptoe to even reach, but man was it worth it.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The sun dips even lower on the horizon, which seems to be River’s chance to sing.

It seems to be a jovial, upbeat ballad about a man’s undying love to the object of his affections.

“We’re no strangers to love~!” ♪

River’s voice carries a deep, melodic quality to it, each little inflection of his notes with purpose and intent. Shuck can discern that much. She isn’t familiar with the song, but can appreciate River’s sense of music at the very least.

Maybe she was wrong about thinking of River so harshly before. You can tell a lot about someone from their music taste, after all. And River seems to be much more of a sensitive, emotional person than she initially thought.

“You know The Rules~! And SO! DO! I~!” ♪

Ah, nevermind, it’s a joke at Shuckette’s expense then. Exactly what she’s come to expect from her new travelling companion.

“A full commitment's what I'm thinking of~!” ♪

It takes exactly seven paces for River to stop singing in confusion and another two for River to notice Shuck not walking beside him.

“Hey, why aren’t you following me?”

“I don’t have to hear you sing if I don’t.”

River mimes a faint with a hand delicately pressing against his forehead. “Ouch! Off! Curse my fickle yet vulnerable pride as a misunderstood artist! Well if you don’t follow me, how do you expect to be able to watch the stream?”

“I can do that even if I don’t follow you, right? You make it sound as if we just have to walk in a straight line.”

“And why would you do that if I’m not there?”

A simple jest, but one that suddenly takes Shuck by surprise, and she waits until River’s back is turned before walking directly behind him to hide her blush as they continue walking. The best thing about this new arrangement, River thinks, is that Shuck doesn’t have to see his blush either.

River starts singing again soon after.

“You wouldn’t get this from any other guy...” ♪

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The sunset casts a warm glow over the sky and paints the clouds a gentle red to match the leaves of the forest.

They’ve been walking for a good part of a few hours, and even with her injuries, Shuckette seems to fare a lot better than River would have hoped for. It wouldn’t be a forgiving trip, but she must’ve been used to traveling or being out in the wild. The thought made River’s mind wander to a nice villa by a lake, with fresh game cooked on an open fire, and waiting for him on their bed would be Shuc-

_A good night’s rest!_ He finishes for himself.

At the least the sky was a good enough distraction for now, gentle rolling colors and calm, tickling breezes against their faces.

Despite all that, River finds Shuck gripping tight on his sleeve.

“Hm?” He notices she isn’t letting up. “What’s up?”

“It’s getting dark.”

“Yeah. Night’s gonna fall soon. I brought some blankets in my bag-”

“No,” She insists, and River finds her eyes blown wide, and the hand clutching at him is trembling. “It’s getting _dark_.”

Oh.

“Right, um,” River looks around, trying to make the most of his surroundings. “Look, there’s a little clearing up ahead. Not the best, but open enough for a fire at least,” He looks back down at Shuck, whose grip is still white-knuckled. “Just a bit further, alright? Only a little bit more, and I’ll light a fire.”

Shuck takes a shaky breath and nods, short brown curls bouncing up along with the motion of her head. “Okay…”

River sets Shuck down against a tree again, quickly frets over her healing injuries before he’s moving to find dry enough branches for firewood.

Shuckette watches as the pile slowly grows, and she stands up to add to it as much as she can to keep them both warm for the night.

“Thanks for the help,” River grins. “Appreciate it.”

Shuckette flushes red. “It’s the least I can do…”

River asks if Shuck wants to light the fire, too, and she huffs a quick thing about how it’s ‘child’s play’ and is ‘ridiculously easy’.

But that was 8 failed attempts ago and daylight is running thin.

“No, no, please,” River insists, not even trying to hide his snorting. “Do show me how it’s done, Great Lady Shuckette.”

“Why don’t you instead?” Shuck thrusts the twigs towards him. “After all you are oh-so-big and oh-so-very-strong and this should be no trouble at all.”

“Mm,” River hums appreciatively. “I _am_ very big and strong.”

In a turn of events much different than Shuck expects, River pulls out yet another stick from his rucksack. No, not a stick. A… Baton? Sleek and blue and otherwise unassuming. Was he going to add it to the pile?

He waves the baton, and a gentle blue glow emits from it.

_“Funk N’ Roll…!”_

The strangest little thing emerges from the light, humanoid but metallic looking as its form swirls in the glowing fog and reaches out to the twig.

"Riverdude."

"RiverMAN to you," he snaps back, still swinging the end of the baton in small, precise flicks.

"Riverdude," She says, not having heard him. "What is that?"

“Oh. Guess it makes sense you’re a stand user, too. Say hi, Funk.” The little creature waves up at her before going back to its task, River setting up the other twig to light a fire. “I swear I’m usually faster at this, but- Ah. There we go.”

Suddenly, River spins the twig, and the little guy, Funk N’ Roll, disappears into it. In a blink, the twig is suddenly spinning faster than Shuck can see, fast enough to make smoke and sort of shrieking sound at where it rubs against the wood.

What Shuck can see is the burst of flames that appears from the friction.

She looks to River for an explanation, but the man just smiles with… Pride?

“My Stand can change tempos. Is that cool or what?”

“What?”

River narrows his eyes at Shuck suddenly. “Shuckette, do you not know about Stands either?”

Shuckette shakes her head. If stands can help light fires -- warm, inviting, and bright fires, very nice -- then maybe they aren’t as bad as she thinks they are.

“Magic?”

River shrugs. “Sort of.”

Funk N’ Roll comes out again, once again waving politely at Shuckette. Shuckette waves back adorably and suddenly the creature’s cheeks turn red.

“I,” River clears his throat. “Anyway, here’s my Stand. And- um, They’re supposedly a manifestation of one’s fighting spirit, and many great warriors and higher-ups have one. You gotta have a Stand to see another person’s Stand. That means you’re definitely a Stand User too, also reinforces the idea that you’re nobility.”

Shuck tilts her head as she tries to wrap her head around the concept. “Do all nobles have Stands?”

This makes River’s face all crinkle up. “It’s a… Difficult topic.”

Oh boy, more learning.

“Having a Stand inherited through blood, so if a noble family has one, they’ll try to keep it going through the family because of the power they have. Each Stand is different, both in power and in name, and at their worst, that’s exactly what all the nobility want: Power and a Name.

“ Kind of a stupid move on the nobility’s part because some real dumbasses come to get ahold of Stands and because of that, they inherit their house.”

“Sounds bullshit,” she says, eyebrows all scrunched together at the idea of it. “But I’ll believe it.” 

Shuck thinks he got most of what River was explaining to her, but that doesn’t make the concept of it inherently ridiculous. She would’ve thought her life was in the hands of a madman if she wasn’t able to see River’s Stand.

Now she thinks her life is in the hands of a dumbass who can make things go _‘nyoom’._

Lighting the fire was difficult, but falling asleep was even more of a challenge.

“Shuckette, you’re shivering,” River tells her. “Are you cold?”

She definitely isn’t a fan of how she’s about to spend an entire night on a tiny bedroll, in the cold frigid air of the forest they’re in.

“J-Just a bit, Riverdude,” She jokes, trying to cover herself with her arms as best he can, but even River can see how much his torn up clothes don’t do him many favours, even in front of the fire.

River, all the while, rolls out the blanket finding it just barely big enough for two people, feeling nothing but exhaustion and relief that they finally have rest. “Go ahead and climb onto the bed. I won’t be long.” Shuckette, thankfully, does so without protest.

He sits on the bed, and finally pulls the covers over Shuck, making no effort himself to climb under.

“You’re not going to sleep?”

“Of course I am.”

“Then why aren’t you under the blanket?”

“Are you kidding?” River tries laughing it off. He’s thankful that the light of the crackling fire hides his sudden but inevitable blush, not realizing the same holds true for Shuck. “The bedroll’s barely big enough for one of us, let alone two.”

But Shuck’s hand reaches out from under the covers and resumes its death grip on his sleeve.

“Please…” The brown of her hair turns a fiery auburn in the emberlight. “I don’t want to sleep alone again....”

And River can’t stop it as he’s slowly pulled under the blanket wholly too small for two adults. He falls back down on the thin bedroll, making Shuck gasp.

He turns to his side to see Shuck very close, green eyes wide. He can feel the warmth of another body, the scratchy blanket and the sheet that may as well have been a duvet. There’s only one pillow, and they share it, staring at each other, inches apart.

“This is … ” River tries.

Shuck rolls onto her stomach, hiding her face against the mattress. “Sorry for making it awkward.”

“I was going to say it’s a tight fit,” River amends. “You can take more of the pillow if you like. You’re barely hanging off. You’ll never fall asleep like that.”

Shuck peeks up at him, and swallows audibly. Is she afraid? Why?

Ah. River is probably making her uncomfortable. Of course.

But before he can offer to sleep on the ground again, Shuckette shuffles closer until her head is braced on the pillow. River hooks his hand under Shuck’s elbow and drags her closer still to give her more space. Shuck squeaks like a caught bird and ah, he definitely made it weird now. “W-We can each have half. I can’t have you sleeping on the cold ground now can I, Lady Shuckette?”

Shuckette doesn’t laugh, or berate him for calling her that.

There’s barely any space between their torsos and River seems to be in a similar position as Shuck was before, his form nearly hanging off the bed. River doesn’t mind. It’s less spacious than what he’s used to, but Stream Guardian life has taught him that he shouldn’t need lavish comfort to fall asleep.

He’s starting to grow drowsy, so he doesn’t notice how Shuck can’t take his eyes off River’s face. 

There’s stubble on his chin, and some flecks of dirt that he hadn’t noticed on the high of his cheek. His hair looks soft, she realizes in a moment of embarrassing clarity, soft enough to smooth her hand through. Thankfully, Shuck’s body is far too exhausted from everything and she slowly relaxes into the heat of River’s body.

She dreams again, this time, but it isn’t of darkness or silence.

When River inevitably wakes up first, early as the sunrise, he’ll find that the two have miraculously cuddled up against one another in their sleep. Heat seeking heat. He’ll feel Shuckette’s breath blowing into his hair from above, and feel her face nestled against the top of his head. Besides, he’ll find his own ways to extricate himself from the bedroll, moving slowly and quietly so Shuck can continue to dream sweet dreams for a while longer.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


River had lent Shuck his bow as he went to try and spear fish in the Stream.

She has only 6 arrows to work with, but experience tells her that the little deer she’s been stalking doesn’t need more than 2.

That was another thing she discovered; her memories are just as selective as they were unreliable. There’s no way of telling what she was allowed to keep and what she wasn’t. That’s the thing, isn’t it? You never know when you’ve forgotten something forever.

Nocking the arrow is a simple and mindless thing to do and aiming is just as easy as keeping still enough to not alert the prey of her presence. The deer is bright orange against the even brighter foliage of red leaves and dark tree bark, unassuming. If Shuckette can land this, they’d have no problem eating meat for the next week.

She aims, feeling the gentle thrum of the bowstring as she pulls it back.

She’s scored far harder, after all, able to mark birds flying in the sky above. Shuck pulls the drawstring accordingly, aiming for that small of its neck as if she was to down a tiny bird. She feels her muscles tense in anticipation of the shot. Easier. Clearer.

_“Higher.”_

And she aims higher, just as instructed by-

By…?

The arrow flies in a graceless arc as another burst of pain tears through her head and leaks through her ears. The deer is spooked away as she screams, crumpling to the ground and clutching at the sides of her head.

That was a memory. Some horrendous, good-for-nothing memory that she can’t process through the pain flaring through her like a flame, burning away until it’s suddenly gone. The only sign it’s ever been there is the fact that she’s still on the floor. 5 arrows. No deer and no food.

A voice.

Where has she heard that voice before...?

There are steps behind her, and she recognizes them easily without having to look up.

River saunters up with a bountiful catch in his hands. “Yo, hey! I got some- OH FUCK-! Are you alright?!” 

She isn’t alright, of course, but she slowly drifts back to being passable under River’s fret and care back at their camp. Water is always nice to have, and the regular crackling on the fire at least gives her some comfort.

“Hope it doesn’t taste too bad,” River says, taking another cooked skewer from the fire pit. “I’ll have to restock on spices when we reach the next town over.

“...It doesn’t taste bad to me,” Shuck admits somewhat strangely. “I… Truth be told, I can’t taste much of anything, really. I haven’t been able to since…”

All of a sudden, some things started to make sense. How Shuck never seemed to really enjoy eating, or how she never said a thing about what River had made for her. “Is that why you never ask for anything…?” River asks. Shuck nods, and it breaks his heart how she just stares back up at him. “…I’m sorry.”

Maybe figuring out who she is will help her, but she’ll never know until they reach whoever River’s friend is.

  
  
  


\--

  
  
  
  


The first sign of civilization Shuckette sees is a quaint little hamlet, built along the Stream amidst the auburn forest. Luckily for them, River assures her that there’d definitely be a place that they can eat here.

River guides her past little thatch-roofed houses and common folk until they lay eyes on a tavern. The sign outside simply reads ‘Michelle’s’ and Shuck’s stomach is already growling from the smell of food.

“I don’t suppose you have any coin on you?” River asks.

Shuck shakes her head but pulls him into the tavern anyway. “No, but I have a plan.”

The tavern is already full of patrons, all squeaky chairs and chattering about. Shuck can’t shake the flavorful aroma floating about the establishment. She scans the room for that one instrument that can help earn them a meal, and- Yes, there it is! Propped up on a stage, the perfect place to play.

A piano.

“Excuse me!” Shuckette walks over to one of the wait staff. “I can’t help but notice you have a piano that’s not being used.”

The waitress sighs and nods. “Yeah, our usual music man eloped to the other side of the world and took his ukelele with him. Couldn’t bring the piano on short notice and we haven’t found any buyers since.”

“Are you ‘Michelle?’” Shuck asks.

“No, I’m Riddle,” The waitress deadpans. “But I run the place so it’s my job to look for buyers.”

“I just so happen to be able to play. Maybe in exchange for a meal, I could play a song?”

“That’s not money.”

“Yes, however…!” Shuckette falls into a familiar pattern, improvisation and dramatisation coming to her as naturally as breathing.

“This fine establishment of yours seems to have it all. The beer keeps flowing, the food smells divine, and let me just say that we both travelled far and wide just to stop by here and rest our weary feet in your tavern. And lo and behold, a piano stands there just waiting to be played! A body can move just fine with just its legs, but add some eyes to the mix and suddenly you can see!”

And logically, Shuck doesn’t know where she’s going with this. Neither does River, but Riddle seems to be listening, so Shuck carries on.

“A tavern with just food and drink is fine, but the one thing that elevates it to greatness is the atmosphere! With a good atmosphere, I’d even say that’s all a tavern needs, worth more than the food and drink combined. Furthermore, is there any better atmosphere enhancer than a piano? Just think of the acoustics!”

River nods along in the background. “Yes, the acoustics!”

“And true, it’s all _bullshit_ ,” Shuckette ends with. “But you’ll believe it.”

Shuck has absolutely no idea where that came from, nor how it was even possible to say so much while simultaneously saying so little. In the right circumstance, she feels as though she could’ve stretched this on for 10 minutes before getting tired, but the promise of food is too much to bear.

“Huh,” the waitress finally says. “Guess I will.”

And so, they get access to the piano.

“I didn’t know you could play,” River says before starting to warm up his voice. Seems as though he was going to sing along with whatever Shuck would play.

“Neither did I,” Shuck replies, hands settling on the keys of the piano from muscle memory.

“It’s a family-friendly establishment,” she says, and suddenly she gets the briefest of headaches at the word ‘family’. She doesn’t think too much of it before she shakes her head and continues. “I’m not sure what song I’ll play, but if it’s well-known enough, you should be able to sing along.”

Riverdude sends her a thumbs up as she readies the keys.

Shuckette’s fingers glide over the keys, starting a slow, gentle melody that rolls and rings across the tavern. Shuck feels awash in the familiarity of it, surrendering to the memory imbued in her fingertips as a song unravels bar by bar. A piano is tied to her memories somewhere, she knows it. it’s buried inside her, waiting to be set free, but this is all she can do to coax it out. One by one, the crowd looks on at the stage, as they each recognize the familiar tune get louder and louder, and livelier and livelier with each set of notes played effortlessly. 

River sings.

“I’ll be the roundabout~!”♪

It’s a familiar tune, one that he doesn’t have to linger on before he’s being carried away in the melody.

“I spend the day your way~!” Shuck marvels at how River holds the notes. “Call it morning driving through the sound and In and out the valley~!!”

The tavern patrons are joining in on the song now, as well, a light and cheerful mood falling upon them as they clink their glasses together. What was chattering before is now full on singing as common folk belt out the lyrics on River’s cue, and Shuck’s musical skill.

Needless to say, they earn their dinner. They sit across from each other as they eat, clinking their own glasses against the other’s as they share a meal.

Shuck can’t help but still be in awe at him. “Your voice sounds really good. It’s obvious you spent a lot of time working on it, but how did you find the time to practice when you’re a Guardian?”

Riverdude takes a refreshing sip of some ice water before answering. “Well, I was singing even before I was called ‘River’.”

“How does that even work?”

"I meant before I got my title,” River says. “What, you didn't think my name was actually just ‘Man of the River’, did you?"

Flustered, shuck averts her eyes. "Uhhh..."

“Geez, you’re hopeless,” River chuckles and shakes his head. “My real name's Nathaniel. Not as cool as ‘Man of the River’ but, hey, it's better to have one than not at all, yadda yadda. I'm sure you know the story."

Shuck blinks up at him, not following at all. "Um- Yes! Absolutely, yes?"

Riverdude didn't seem to notice her hesitation, not saying anything. 

Even worse, he’s just staring at Shuckette expectantly now.

Riverdude clears his throat rather loudly.

"Yes?"

"Well...?"

"Well what?"

Riverdude coughs into his hand again, very clearly faking it. "I shared my real name so..."

And Shuckette keeps looking up at him with about the same sense of awareness as a baby lamb. “Yes…?”

Riverdude looks a bit offended by that. "You know you're supposed to share yours, too, right? Common courtesy and all. I’m really starting to doubt this ‘noble’ story of yours..."

"Uh…” Shuckette says again, rather intelligently. “But you already know my full name."

"Pardon?"

"Shuckmeisterin."

"Yeah, I know your title. But what's your name?"

"Uh… _The_ Shuckmeisterin?"

Ah, Shuckette knows the look on his face. If short-term memory at least serves her right, then that’s his ‘I can’t believe I have to explain yet another thing to you’ face.

At least River resigns to his fate relatively quickly, getting his dramatic sigh over and done with. “Titles are bestowed upon people. Many have one, but no two people can have the same title, which isn’t a problem most of the time because they’re given based on a defining trait or job of their individual person. For example, my title is ‘The Man of the River’ because I’m a Stream Guardian.”

At least this one was short and concise. Shuck supposes it’d be unlikely for that waitress’s name to actually be ‘Riddle’, after all.

“What do you think ‘Shuckmeisterin’ means?”

“Hm. Figure it out after you eat,” River insists. “If you won’t finish that, you damn well bet I will.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Fortunately, Riddle takes pity on them and gives them a place to stay for the night. It’s her empty stable, but having a safe place to sleep is better than nothing.

River insisted on letting Shuck lay her head on his lap as they laid down on a pile of hay for the night. He’s busy writing some sort of letter, and Shuckette is busy trying her best to fall asleep. She’s failing miserably, and even with a full stomach, she can’t calm herself down enough to slip into some much needed slumber.

But then…

“I will remember you…” River gently starts to sing, unconsciously petting at her soft hair as he writes. “Your silhouette will charge the view…”

His hand drifts lower, resting over Shuckette’s. “Call it morning driving through the sound and even in the valley…”

Even if she’s pretending to be asleep, and even if River might tease her about it in the morning, she’s tired enough to not have any issues with turning her hand under River’s. Shuckette holds River hand.

River holds it back and smiles.

“In and around the lake…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uncensored hand holding 👀


	3. The 19th Rule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disney princess River when

Much like some sort of princess from a fairy tale, River whistles a bouncy little tune with his arm outstretched.

Lo and behold, a sweet dainty messenger pigeon descends from the sky, cooing affectionately as it lands on River. This is how Shuckette learns that pigeons very much enjoy being pet. The pigeon leans into his touch, as River gets delirious in spoiling it and makes as many embarrassing kissy faces towards the bird as there are feathers on its skin.

“Who’s a good girl? You are! The best little girl in the whole world, yes you are!”

Shuckette will not stoop to be, nor admit to being jealous of a bird.

River’s little pigeon is a lot more well-behaved than others Shuck has seen, sticking its  _ teensy leggie _ out just long enough for River to tie a message scroll onto.

The bird is then sent back into the air with an appreciative coo, and flies off back into the distance.

“Who’s that for?” Shuck asks. Recognizing that the pigeon is flying North towards a mountain range, where they’re headed.

“Friend in the next Rule over, we’ll meet him soon,” River explains, already packing his rucksack to start the long trek. “His name is Schroder. He’ll help get us some horses.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Shuckette feels a weight on her shoulders as River her top with their blanket. 

"Uh, I’m not that cold you know?"

"Not exactly the point, but bigshot cities are a bit different.” River pats her shoulders comfortingly as they reach the base of the mountain range. "You’ll see."

The capital city of 19th rule is a sprawling litter of metal and oak, nestled between two mountains that Shuck and River could see past the distant fog as they approached. Ever standing before the gates of the city, Shuck quickly gets overwhelmed by the towering spires that made up the entrance archway.

“You alright, Shuckette?” River asks as he feels Shuck gripping at his sleeve again. He makes sure the blanket is secure around her again before they enter the open gates. “You‘ve never been to any of the big capitals?”

“Not that I can remember…”

From the moment they step foot into the city, the striking difference between the Capital and the small hamlet that they visited is apparent.

The skyline is littered with elaborate roof designs and forged metal pillars.

Even the road is different, an intricately arranged cobbled street, noisy and bustling with people rushing about and chatting animatedly in every corner of the city. They’re all dressed to the nines in stylish dresses or stainless white blouses with formal slacks, not to mention all the fancy hats or shiny shoes. 

Ah, Shuckette finally understands why River had to wrap a sheet around her. Something tells her that her rags wouldn’t exactly cut it in the big city like this.

Lucky for her, River soon guides her through the masses, into a quaint little tailor shop with a bell at the door that rings to signal their entrance. It’s much calmer here, the warm wooden floors and swatches of colorful fabrics hanging from the walls rolled up in neat cubbies.

Moreover, the store was empty. Save for one strange patron perusing the hat section with a basketball inexplicably strapped to his side. Unfortunately, from the look on River’s face, he seems to be someone they’re looking for.

“Is that the guy who knows who I am?” Shuck whispers to River.

“Not yet, but he’s a Ruler, too, and he’ll help out,” River says, before waving at the other man in the shop. “Yo! Schroder, long time no see!”

“Hm,” This ‘Schroder’ guy seems dismissive, only doing the bare minimum to acknowledge River.

Instead, he holds up two different coloured hats from a rack.

“Which one do you think? I like the maroon but the navy one doesn’t have a feather on it that makes me look like a tool…”

“Um,” Shuck grasps at straws to think of a conversation topic. “You… Like fedoras?”

Schroder snaps back at her for saying that. “These are porkpie hats, NOT fedoras. Only chumps wear fedoras, and if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s a chump,” Ignoring Shuck, Schroder turns to River. “Man, who is this?”

“This is Shuckette,” River says. “She doesn’t know who she is so I’m helping her.”

Shuckette raises her arm to wave. She remembers that the word ‘Schroder’ means tailor, and thinks it’s only fitting she met Schroder in a tailor shop.

“Do you own this shop?”

“No.”

Wow, he seems pleasant.

“He owns a bunch of tailor shops and comedy clubs in his Rules,” River says. So he’s a Ruler, huh? Good to know… “And he can get us horses to escort us to the 35th Rule faster.”

Shuckette gets a little pang in his head at the word ‘escort’, but otherwise, Shuckette is happy about being around horses.

“Yes, my horses. My lovely horses,” Schroder says, finally deciding on just buying both hats instead of choosing. 

Shuckette feels a bit happier thinking about the ride. “I think I’m really good with horses.”

“Ah, what a lovely coincidence, so am I,” says the horse man himself. “There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related anythings and me, a Professional, I know em’ all. Everything from anatomy to life stages, size, markings, movings, shapes, shades, shaders, and data packs and, and uhh… Where was I going with this?”

Oh, Shuck can understand him now. Now Schroder was speaking her language, and one that she can speak just as fluently. If she can communicate with Schroder, the two would form a lasting friendship that just may come into play later. All she needs to do is respond unintelligibly intelligently.

“I can feel the horses’ energy,” Shuck blurts out instead. “Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predators, possessing an excellent sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. And of course, horses are animals known for their strong and willful instinct.”

Shuckette looks at Schroder, trying to judge his response, but all Schroder does is look back as if to say ‘Go on…?’

“With their instincts as their bases,” Shuckette continues. “He who controls their instincts understands the whole horse. Thus... By feeling their energy, and their emotions… I have, in fact, already become one with the horse itself.”

The silence following her spiel almost made her nervous. Riverdude is also there behind Schroder, giving him a confused, but reassuring thumbs up at the very least.

“I’m calling bullshit on that,” Schroder says.

“But you’ll believe it,” Shuckette replies.

“Ugh…” Schroder groans. “... Reluctantly.”

Thus with that, Shuck counts that as a victory for herself. “You can lend us some horses?

“Hmm…” Schroder hums, then goes silent. “Well… You see… That’s a tricky question…  _ Horses _ ? Yes, I know of them. Quite intimately in fact, but don’t take that out of context, yeah? Mhm... And when you say ‘some’... Well…..”

Schroder trails off his sentence and Shuck doesn’t know if he meant to do it or not.

Shuckette tries again. “You  _ do _ have horses to bring us, right?”

“Hmmm…… Did you just ask if I _have_ horses? Or do you mean ‘can you bring the horses’ or ‘can you bring us to the horses’…? Uhh, yeah those two are indeed very different. Hm… Yeah. Very, _very_ different…”

Shuckette has to wonder if he’s doing this on purpose.

“Wait, what was the question again?”

“Can you bring us the horses or not?”

“Hmmmmmmmmm…….” Shroder hums, then goes silent once again.

‘ _ Okay, he has to be teasing us on purpose now, right?’ _

“Let me think……. Hmm…… Maybe…… Hm, yeah… I’ll get back to you on that.”

Shuckette burns up, and turns away to not even dignify him with a groan. “Well, fine, then. It’s not like we want to get there soon or-”

“Oi, didn’t you hear me? I said I got one waiting in the palace stables. Mare. Name’s Kris. Can carry two just fine,” Schroder turns to River. “You  _ are _ buying her better clothes before we go, right?”

River blushes and guides Shuckette through the little shop by the hand.

“Might as well get you some warmer clothes,” River says, pulling out some fur-lined shawls for Shuckette. “Nights in the 19th Rule can get pretty cold. It might even snow.”

Shuckette immediately takes a liking to the purple one, and goes to look for matching articles. “I’ve never actually seen snow before.”

Schroder scoffs from the other side of the shop.

“Shows.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

Shuckette manages to find a changing room with the garments that River had helped her pick out, making sure not to rip her clothes any more than they already were.

Taking special care to empty her pockets, she manages to fish out a simple, shiny, silver band. She turns the ring in her hand as she looks at it. The beginnings of a headache started to form in her head as she thinks about how she should do her best not to lose it. Once she finds out who she is, she’s certain that the ring will make sense too. As it is now, she sets it down gently and takes caution not to lose it.

“How do I look?” Shuckette steps out of the changing room with her new outfit: a purple, fur lined shawl over a warm, white dress shirt; simple, sturdy belts holding up black hose that led to sleek, forest green boots with red buckles that looked like little turtles.

_ Wonderful, _ River thinks, as his cheeks redden.

“N-Not bad,” He stutters out instead, averting his eyes from staring too long.

“Alright then idiot, pay up,” Schroder says, and the part about money shocks them enough to ignore him calling them idiots. “What, did you forget your wallet?”

“Uh…” River drones. Shuck remembers that the only time they needed money was back at the tavern, and it was only because of the piano being there that they were able to eat.

“Forget it.” Schroder does the unthinkable and pulls into his own wallet to cover the expenses. He points at Shuckette. “But you owe me a horse race later so we can prove who’s better.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The castle of the 19th Rule is built into the side of the mountain, grand white marble arches making up the majority of the solid architecture.

Schroder and River’s presence is more than enough to get them past the castle gates, though it’s strange to see so little guards around the premises beyond the gatekeepers. The main entrance to the castle is mainly decorated with a lush garden, but even that isn’t enough to stop Shuck from feeling on edge about the lack of security.

It’s Schroder that ends up having to occupy the castle gates, opening them to reveal a man perched at the center of the circular throne room amidst the columns of marble swirling towards the ceiling. Shuckette recognizes him as the Ruler of the land, standing up to come and greet them.

“It’s very nice to see you all,” he greets politely. “It’s a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”

“What’s up, BragonGod?” River calls, arms open in a gesture of friendliness. “I’m guessing Schroder here already passed along my message?”

So this was BragonGod, the Ruler of the 19th Rule. If all goes well, they’d leave with fully armoured escorts to get them to the 35th.

“Oh right, that,” Bragon answers. “Yeah, I’ve got the guards at the ready. Since it was you who asked, I’ve even given the order to the ones from my own barracks.”

_ So that’s where all the guards were _ . Shuckette had even seen their quarters on the way into the castle alongside a stable. She’d wager that they’d be led there before continuing their journey at the very least.

“Wait, who the heck is that?” Bragon seems to only have just noticed Shuckette’s presence amongst the other two.

“My name is The Shuckmeisterin,” She does her most polite curtsy. “But you may call me Shuckette.”

“Uhh,” Bragon starts to do a double-take. “Say that again?”

Shuck straightens her posture. “... Shuckette?”

It takes a few seconds for Bragon to register just what she said and a few more on top of that to blink, but Shuck can see the moment of realization cross his face. They watch him hurry to his feet as he thrusts out his hand, wires appearing out of nowhere to suddenly slam the doors shut behind them with a resounding thud.

“BITCH,” Bragon booms. “HOW DARE YOU STILL LIVE!?”

Shuckette barely realizes what’s going on as Bragon shoots another wire directly aimed at her. She dodges, but not enough for it to graze her cheek like a thin blade. The sound of the string pulling taught vibrates against her ears, deathly close to impaling her.

“River and Schroder, this doesn’t concern you,” Bragon snaps. “Just come over towards me. I’m under orders to kill her.”

The atmosphere of the room had changed fast enough to give them all whiplash.

“What the fuck?!” Schroder yells.

“Yeah, what he said!” River agrees. “What the fuck, Bragon?!”

Bragon doesn’t seem too hung up on his friends’ supposed refusal. “Then you’ll die with her.  _ Bread and Blood! _ ” An aura starts glowing around Bragon as the ends of more wires start to materialize and coil around him. Shuck recognizes that as his stand ability, control and manipulation of wires of some sort. Shuckette counts at least 10 of them in all.

Shuckette quickly runs out of the way as Bragon starts firing more of the strings at her. For all that miss, a crack on the floor appears as the string breaks into the tile with enough force to crush bone. Shuckette is fast enough on her feet as she runs along the circular walls, but sees one about to launch directly into her eye.

“Don’t you dare!” She hears River yell. “Funk N’ Roll!”

The string about to hit her seems to slow, moving in slow motion. Wait, it’s actually moving in slow motion!

She ducks out of the way to see River wielding his blue baton, aimed at the wire as he runs. River runs up towards Bragon, baton quickly moving to aim at his arm. Bragon is caught off guard as River hits him square in the jaw with an accelerated fist.

Bragon stumbles, spitting out a tooth. He recovers quicker than they expect, shooting 2 wires out at River. River doesn’t dodge quick enough, and the wires stab him in the arms, sending him flying back against the wall. “Don’t get in my way!”

Bragon retracts his wires, only to start shooting them again at Shuckette, intently focused on running her through.

“River!” She tries to call, but can barely see how River is doing as she tries to evade more wires. “Ack-!”

“Not so fast now!” Bragon shoots out his wires in a wall, forcing her to suddenly stop if she doesn’t want to get sliced. Shuckette trips on her feet, and falls backwards.

“Bragon, look!” She hears Schroder’s voice yell.

Bragon actually does look, trying to see what exactly Schroder was pointing to.

“Where?”

“Right here!” River sneaks out from behind the throne. His baton is pointed at his leg now, sending Bragon an accelerated kick.

“Agh!” The kick sends him reeling, tumbling away from the throne. “Damn, you got me good- WAH-!”

Adding insult to injury, he trips on a ledge in the ground, a part of the floor seemingly missing. Shuck hears a faint tinkling sound, like a bell, and just as she notices the missing floor tile, it blinks back into existence as if it was never gone.

“Oh, whoops,” Schroder says. “You mind telling us what this is about, Bragon?”

Bragon grits his teeth, suddenly sending out his wires to wrap around both Schroder and River, lifting them into the air.

“Bread and Blood’s wires are indestructible, and I named it bread because my stand is functionally perfect,” Bragon says as he commands his wires to tighten around them. River screams as his arms are pressed in tighter. He drops his baton, now defenseless. “Maybe I’ll tell you why I named it ‘Blood’”.

Shuckette could only watch as the wires coiled tighter. River screamed again. Bragon is going to crush them. Schroder. River. He’s going to kill them, just like he’d surely kill Shuckette. He’s hurting them. River’s in pain. Schroder’s about to die.

River’s about to-

“No, STOP!!”

Shuck feels a surge of power suddenly jolt from her fingertips, and from the heavens, falls a grand piano, and crushing Bragon underneath with a dignified cacophony of all keys jumping at once. The sound of its impact echoes around the room, leaving River, Schroder, and Shuck slack jawed and wide-eyed.

The wires disappear, dropping River and Schroder back onto the floor.

“What the fuck was that?!” Schroder yells, still paralyzed in shock from the sudden appearance of a piano. His eyes immediately shot to Shuckette. “You are terrifying.”

Shuckette is having trouble recoiling, herself. “Um… I think that’s Piano Man.”

“Piano Man?” River questions. “Not ‘Woman’?”

“Yes, I’m sure it's Man,” and for once, the memory of the name isn’t something lost on her.

“Huh…” River stares a bit as he processes the information, but snaps out of it quick enough to hear armoured footfalls headed to the throne room, alerted by the impact sound. “Guards are headed this way. Schroder,” the man in question snaps to attention. “Take us to the stables.”

He nods, making a dash back outside to lead the way.

“AFTER THEM!” They hear a guardsman shout far behind them.

Ah, so they were being pursued now. Great.

They cut through the front gardens in time to make it to where his steeds were kept. Schroder tries to get the horse meant for Shuck and River -- A mare named Kris -- to calm down, but the mare is too spooked.

“Hey, it’s alright, girl,” Shuckette speaks gently, walking slowly towards the horse. “We’re not here to hurt you. We just need your help…”

Shuckette gently rubs at the horse’s muzzle. Against all odds, she huffs, lowering her head to accept her and River on her back. River takes the reins just in time as they see the guards headed towards them, fully armed.

“Not bad,” Schroder comments as he gets on his own horse. “Follow me! We’re headed for the city gates!”

People part and run out of the as they ride through the main road, headed for the giant archway gate at the edge of the valley. A lot of the townsfolk were screaming as they see them rush by, and Shuck looks back to see if they managed to shake off their pursuers.

It was a bit of an oversight to lead the guards straight to the stables with them, Shuckette notices, because now they all are on horseback.

The people learn quickly to heed the appearance of the Rule Enforcers in the streets as they all clamber over each other to scurry into any kind of shelter they can find. Doors are being slammed shut and the clacking of high heels against the cobbled road. Shame, they’re getting dust all over their business suits.

“How many are on us?” River asks her, voice nearly lost amidst the shrieks of the townspeople.

Shuck chances a look back, counting as many as 30 armed and fully armoured guards rapidly getting closer. The sound of synchronized hooves clattering gets louder and louder until the sound is battering into the stone below.

“It’s gotta be like a hundred of them!” Shuckette yells over the wind. “They’re gaining fast, too. Can’t you do something?!”

River has to shout back to have Shuck hear him. “I AM doing something and that something is DRIVING!”

“No, idiot! I mean with your Stand!”

“Well excuUuSe ME, princess! But my hands are kinda occupied right now!!”

Shuck tries her best to take a deep, calming breath, as calming as one can get when rocking back and forth on a moving horse. “Alright, come on, you don’t need any stupid water guardians, you got this…”

“I can hear you!!”

“Come on, come on!” Shuck thrusts her hand out behind her. “PIANO MAN!”

Nothing happens.

“Oh, come on!!”

Suddenly the one horse in front trips, seemingly on a branch in the cobble.

Shuck watches all the guard’s horses topple down one after the other behind the first one like dominos. All scared whinnies and frantic guard-like yelling as their armor suits clash.

“What happened back there?!” River asks, unable to even turn his eyes back to see the havoc.

“All the horses just fell! I don’t know what happened,” Shuckette doesn’t care to look on, specifically, at all the injured horses.

What they don’t hear is that amidst the sound of the armored guards scrambling to get back up, a faint, tinkling bell sound darts away from them, and back to Schroder. Schroder grins to himself as he calls back his stand, the horseshoe of the first fallen horse returning to its place. “Always doing everything myself…”

The gates are in sight, the archway standing tall as the last thing that separates them from escaping. Some of the guards have already extricated themselves from the mass of horses, barrelling towards the three of them with their spears. Schroder pulls ahead, only to jump off and start pushing the gates closed.

“Schroder, what are you doing?!” Shuck cries. “You can’t possibly be sacrificing yourself in order to save us heroically!!”

“Oh don't be so dramatic!” Schroder’s horse whinnies behind him, rearing at the sight of dozens of shiny spearheads, “It can only be closed from the inside!!

River steers Kris straight through the gap in the gates, leaving them with one final view of Schroder, the Rule Enforces closing in behind him.

“You owe me a horse race, Shuck!” Schroder yells back a final time.

“I’ll get back to you on that!” Shuckette fires back, waving as best she can while holding onto River. “You better stay alive, you crazy bastard!!”

Shuckette watches the archway get further and further away, as the large gates are latched shut with a resounding boom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Schroder man this one's for you, ball is life 🏀 🙏 🙏


	4. Safeguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they can have a little bit of a rest for the two right after the fight, also lmao rip schroder

They find a clearing in the woods, wide enough for them to build a campfire and set up their shared bedroll. The air is much colder out in the wild, and River can start to feel his breaths puffing out in the frigid air

“Hey, Shuck, let’s stop here for the night, okay?” He doesn’t get any response. “Shuckette…?”

River turns to find Shuckette had already dozed off, arms wrapped around his middle as he breathes steadily, tiny white puffs forming in the cold. She’s leaning into River, snuggling up against his body heat as she sleeps peacefully.

He can’t help but feel anything but adoration as he watches on, quietly and silently easing her off of Kris and making sure Shuckette was snug and mellow under a blanket as he set up a fire to keep her warm.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


"Shuckette…" She hears someone calling her. Ah, shouldn't be too important. It’s a familiar voice, and he didn't sound too scared. So probably no danger.

That person is shaking her this time. "Shuck, wake up." He sounds excited for some reason. Shuck swats him away gently, but that only gets her a giggle. "I want you to see something...”

Shuck groans. "Five more minutes, Riverdude..." That’s it. It’s River that wants to wake her.

"Just for a moment, come on!" Well, he does seem very thrilled and Shuck doesn’t want to disappoint him...

River grabs her by the wrist with awfully cold fingers. "Yeah, yeah, I’m awake," Shuck mumb;es as River only pulled her harder.

Shuck sits up then, and gasps at the cold that came with the snowfall - she feels herself shaking once she shrugs off the blanket. River’s hand -- Where’s his hand…?

She looks up, and - ah, that’s easy. He’s sitting just an arm’s reach away, it’s fine. River is staring up at the night sky, enchanted, hair glowing gently under the moonlight, until he shakes his head like an animal to get the snowflakes out. He turns and looks back at Shuck all wolfen-like with his teeth. Shuck had never seen him so happy, and was ever glad for it.

River scoots closer to her, and grabs her hand again. "You mentioned that you rarely got to see snow before. I wanted to show you."

Yes… She had mentioned on the way that snow was a rarity for her. Even more of a rarity, however, is to see River smile like this, no trace of worry or strife. Well, no, that wouldn't be fully correct. It’s like Shuck herself that joy was only a moment of levity, and even in her eyes there is an undercurrent of sorrow, forgotten for a moment to share this little happiness.

River watches on as she plays with the snow, marvelling at how it crunches underneath her and how delicate white endlessly rains down from a deep sky. It never ceases to amaze. 

"Look at the moon," River pointed. It was huge and blue against an endless cosmos, the eye of the night. 

"It’s beautiful," Shuck said, transfixed. 

Shuckette leaned back, taking the Guardian by surprise with her as they sprawled onto the grass, locks of her luscious brown hair spilling over her face as they laid there, gazing at the speckled heavens.

She pointed to a junction of two bright stars. “There’s the North Star, Polaris.” Her hand moves to another one, tracing a connection of several different stars. “The Swan. And that one there’s Scorpius.”

River seemed to be struggling to see the shapes in the sky as easily as she did. “C-Could you trace the swan one again?” Shuck lowered her face next to River to see from his view, enough so that their cheeks were pressing together. She could almost feel how hot River’s cheeks became. The Guardian may have even felt how hot Shuckette’s cheeks have become as well after initiating the contact.

Shuck held River’s hand and guided it to point upward at the sky. She let one of his eyes close, scanning the expanse of twinkling until she found the top of the constellation. “There. The bright star on top is Deneb.” She gently moved River’s hand to trace past more stars. “Connect it to the others, Sadr and Albireo and it makes the swan’s body. Can you see that?”

River nodded, barely able to follow but now more able to recognize the stars that Shuck had pointed to. 

Shuckette pulls River’s hand down slowly. “The wings are next.” Riverdude’s hand was moved to trace a wide, curved line, made of four more bright, flickering stars. “Zeta, Gienah, back to Sadr in the middle. And then out to meet Delta and Rukh.” Shuck was hyper-aware of the arm her hand was grasping, warm, thrumming, and following her command.

She lets her hand relax its hold on River’s arm, only to drift upwards, until it’s resting on top of River’s, still raised heavenward. The Guardian lets his hand fall out of the point, fingers being released from their grip to instead thread through Shuck’s. 

“Looks like more of a cross than a swan,” is all he said.

Shuck laughs at that, loud and boisterous. River is transfixed by this, wishing only to make her smile and laugh as much as he could.

“For someone so good at navigating, you’re hopeless with stars,” Shuck joked. 

Shuck only then notices River’s white puffs of breath in the cold air. 

Close. Shuck can almost feel the snowflakes on River’s eyelashes. He looks ethereal like this, like he belongs in that scene, a being of snow surrounded by equally mesmerizing winter. Everything, from his white skin, to his blond hair and his ice-blue eyes seems so pale, so the red that bloomed from his cheeks is as clear as the moonlight above them as it graced his features. His lips are so close to hers.

Shuck brings their intertwined hands down to hold it close to her chest. Her heart beats fast.

Shuck murmurs his name, “Nathaniel,” and River kisses her. River’s lips are wonderfully soft, softer than he would have ever thought and Shuck feels herself falling deeper and deeper, already wanting to feel more. The snow, the freezing wet cold, fades away when she’s so close to the warmth of his body. She doesn’t think she’s ever kissed anyone, and he has no idea about River, but she suspects it’s a similar story. There's solidarity between the two, even if they aren't aware of it. The life of sheltered nobles, indeed.

River draws back with a sweet little wet sound as their lips gently part.

She can’t stop herself. The sound she makes might have been more laughter. She might have been crying, too. 

River laughs too as they stare at each other in the moment.

There’s no pain, nothing but the snowfall, and the calming scent of petrichor.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


“I have to go back to the Capital,” is the first thing River says when they discuss their next move. “Need to smooth things over with Schroder and the 19th Rule. Probably some bureaucratic bullshit and why a Stream Guardian was there and couldn’t stop a Ruler from being attacked.”

River sighs, before turning back to Shuck, who was still seeming a bit dazed at remembering what happened last night. “Awful timing, I know, but we won’t have to be apart for very long. The 36th Rule isn’t that big, so it’ll be a quick day trip. Pass you on at sunrise and be back together right before nightfall.”

“Still...” Shuck turns her head away even though it does nothing to hide her blush. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” River says back, his cheeks turning pink as well. “I can pass you on to another Guardian, so we can meet back in the 35th Rule the next county over.”

That’s a shame. Shuck is already so attached to Kris, having made it all the way past two more Rules in record time. Parting is such sweet sorry, or something like that, after all.

“I should go under a fake name for the time being,” Shuck says. “Bragon said that he was working under someone, so I don’t know if I’m safe around anyone other than you.”

“Yeah, that sounds like it’s for the best,” River agrees, albeit rather sadly. “Given the circumstance, maybe go for a name or a title that doesn’t sound like it’s related to ‘Shuck’ at all.”

“Hmm…” River notices that Shuck has a cute little mannerism of pouting when she thinks really hard. “How about… ‘Can’tprove WhoIam L’mfao’?“

“Ha. Ha. Way too on the nose,” River doesn’t even laugh, instead just saying ‘ha’ twice. “Not to mention suspicious. If anyone asked about it, you’d be in trouble. Try picking another.”

“Kek?”

“Try harder. I don’t know anyone who says that but you.”

“Hm...”

A scrunch of her eyebrows and a slight tightening of her grip in River’s hand.

“Um... Zek?” Shuckette tries.

“How creative,” River deadpans. “But it’s the best one yet, so let’s go with that.”

River’s hand feels warm in her hand, as the reality of being apart from him finally sets in. All this time, she hasn’t been apart from River, but if nothing could be done about it, she would have to be able to bear with it.

It isn’t as if she’s the only one upset about them parting.

“Besides, the person I want to pass you onto, she…” River makes a complicated facial expression as his hand comes up again to pad for time as he thinks. “Is very obliged and very prone to report on absolutely everything in her territory to the higher-ups. Not to mention super temperamental, but, hey, she’s a good person.”

“Who are you passing me onto?”

“My sister,” he says. “The Maiden of the River.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 is the rivergal chapter


	5. The Maiden of the River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear that one bit isn't nsfw. there's a mention of the hoohah and the naughty bits but it's nothing explicit.  
> it's actually plot this time.

Shuck wishes that after all of this is over, she’d be able to share another horse ride like this with River. She leans against him, arms wrapped around his middle as the forest starts to thin out.

“Almost there, Shuckette,” River says. “Don’t go falling asleep on me now.”

“You’d make sure I didn’t fall off,” Shuck laughs, hugging River closer. “Thank you, Riverd- I mean, Man of the River.”

"You know…” River clears his throat and averts his gaze. “Riverdude sounds cool. It's got a nice ring to it, you know? I might just start going by that now."

Riverdude helps Shuck off of the horse and Shuck gives Kris a gentle pat for taking her so far already. Shuck turns to find River staring at her with clear admiration in his eyes.

“One last kiss before we go?” Shuck requests.

How can River say no?

He lowers his head to plant a gentle peck against her soft hair, laughing when Shuck pouts. Visibly unsatisfied and obviously wanting a real kiss. He gives it to her without much fuss, leaning down to press their lips together. Shuck keeps one hand on the horse’s saddle as they walk hand in hand the rest of the way.

The forest finally opens up before them.

They see a woman by the Stream, with a basket full of fish. Her hands were coated with blood that stained the Stream crimson. As far as first impressions go, watching her crush a fish skull between two rocks leaves Shuck only the least bit terrified and hesitant to see any more fish blood.

The lady turns to them, seemingly having heard River’s footsteps. Shuck only barely sees the dark of her eyes for a split second, before it washes by her face, leaving her looking like a normal woman.

A normal woman who looked remarkably like Riverdude.

Her blond hair gleams just like River’s as she waves. 

“Long time no see. You look terrible,” she says, companionable snark evident in her tone as she greets River. 

River waves right back as he flips her off. “Yeah, right back at you.”

It doesn’t take long for Shuckette to realize that the lady was River’s sister, the one who would be guiding him to the 36th Rule in River’s place. 

“I can’t remember the last time you brought someone home,” she says, washing the fish giblets off her hands before she walks up to them properly. “You gonna introduce me?” 

River’s sister, the Maiden of the River, looks over Shuckette like she’s sizing her up, eyes as blue as River’s but

“My name’s Zek,” Shuck introduces herself. “And you’re River’s sister.”

“One and only River Maiden at your service!” She bows with the same flourish as River. “You came at a good time. I just caught some fish for the road.”

Having to wave River goodbye is bittersweet, to say the least, and Shuck calls out a quick ‘Stay Safe’ as River takes the reins on Kris.

Luckily enough, Shuck and Rivergal fall into a peaceful, friendly quiet as they tread by the Stream.

Travelling with her is similar to how it normally is with Riverdude, but she seems noticeably more tranquil. Her footfalls aren’t as loud as the one’s he’s used to from River. If Shuck wasn’t listening for them, she doubts that she’d be able to hear them at all. Rivergal carries herself in the same mellow manner as River does, otherwise, which Shuck should probably expect coming from siblings.

Siblings, the thought of which continues to send a jolt down Shuck’s spine with no reason as to why. This is part of the journey, too, not knowing anything as she carries on.

It turns out that Rivergal is just as good of a cook as Riverdude is, as far as smell goes at least. When they stop to eat lunch together, it’s another moment that Shuck desperately wishes she had her sense of taste back. 

“Thank you again for agreeing to guide me.” Shuckette says, biting into another fish. “River told me how short notice this all must be, so I hope it’s not too much of a problem for you, Rivergal,” 

The River Maiden laughs.

“Rivergal? I like it! It’s got a nice ring to it.”

It truly baffles Shuck how similar Rivergal is Riverdude sometimes, almost like they’re the same person. The nature of it all isn’t lost on Shuck, who’s head had been ringing just slightly even since she first saw Rivergal. At first, she chalked it up to being thrown for a loop at the sight of Rivergal beheading fish, but now she’s starting to think it may be something more than that…

“Hm? You alright there, Zek?” Rivergal snaps her out of her reverie, pulling her back down to earth.

“It’s… It’s nothing much,” Shuck amends. “I just have a lot to think about, and I’m grateful to you and your brother both that you’re helping me out so much.”

“If ever you need to talk, I’ll be happy to listen.” Rivergal sends her a blinding smile, the same one she’s seen on River’s face so many times now. The familiarity of it seems a bit out of place to see it on her. “Any friend of my brother’s is a friend of mine.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Just like with Riverdude, Rivergal seems to enjoy passing the time by singing show tunes and pointing out all the trilling birds that veer out of the forest. The two walk in perfect step with each other idly nattering about everything and nothing at all as the sun starts to go low.

Her voice even has the same dulcet tones as her twin, and just being near her makes Shuck feel all the more breezy and bubbly. There’s a strange heat that’s been festering at the back of Shuck’s head ever since this leg of the journey had started, but even being near Rivergal seems to be enough to distract her, just barely.

It’s not enough to completely soothe that feeling of imminent danger, but at the very least, it’s enough to make Shuck feel safer. Even if Rivergal could be temperamental, as River had said, Shuck thinks he would’ve at least wanted her to at least trust Rivergal.

Shuckette hesitates. “...You said that you wouldn’t mind listening to my worries, right?”

Rivergal chuckles. “Not at all. We’ve all got our problems, anyway.”

“Even you?” She asks. “Nothing seems to be bothering you.”

“Well… Now that I mention it, I am waiting on an important letter right now. My Stream Guardian duties seem more lax now than ever, so there’s not much to do during the waiting period. Takes a while for a carrier pigeon to reach these parts all the way from the 34th, but good things come to those who wait, don’t they?”

Shuck’s eye twitches as a searing jolt goes off in her head.

_ “34,”  _ A voice says.  _ “34.” _

“How about you?” Rivergal continues, now expectantly waiting on Shuckette’s answer.

Shuck trusts her.

“Truth be told, I haven’t been completely honest with you... The only reason your brother is helping me on this trip at all is because he saved me.” Shuck expects Rivergal to be phased by this at the very least, but she doesn’t seem bothered about it too much.

“Heh, yeah that sounds like him, alright. Always playing hero,” Rivergal breaks off into a laugh. “Let me guess, did he mention his huge, bulging muscles right after?”

“Yes! How did you know?”

By all logic, siblings shouldn’t be able to share memories, but Shuck supposes that Rivergal and River would share enough inside jokes from their childhood together. One main difference that separates the two in Shuck’s mind is their laughs. Rivergal’s sounds off in a way she can’t properly describe, or focus on as the birds chirp from the trees.

“I’m glad you seem alright now,” Rivergal adds. “If he needed to save you, I hope it wasn’t from anything too harrowing…”

Um.

“Actually…” Shuck knows. She knows how ill-advised telling Rivergal about this would be, after everything that happened. “I was trapped under rubble, buried at the base of a cliff.”

Rivergal’s step falls out of tempo beside Shuckette’s. It’s a brief moment, but Rivergal quickly recovers.

“O-Oh? Is that so? That sounds awful...” Rivergal’s smile is tight as she listens to Shuckette. A smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “How’d that happen?”

“I don’t have a lot of recollection about the whole thing, but I was trapped in there after a carriage accident, supposedly.”

Strange. None of the birds seem to be singing anymore...

“It… Y-You wouldn’t happen to have been to…” Had Shuckette been looking at Rivergal’s eyes again, she would’ve seen the same darkness as she saw earlier. The same eyes that looked upon the crushing of a fish’s skull now look at Shuckette with the same intent.

“Zek…”

“Yes?”

“It wouldn’t have been… Oh, I don’t know… The cliffs in the 12th Rule?”

“It was! How’d you know?”

“Because there aren’t any cliffs taller than the ones there… It’s… Hahahaha…! Oh, wow, it’s a real miracle that you survived, isn’t it...?” Another one of Rivergal’s laughs, lacking any of the warmth or humor that River has.

Shuckette nods, not noticing anything.

“I really consider myself lucky to have met River.”

The rushing sound of The Stream is steady, the water flowing fast enough that no one could even tell that there was ever any trace of blood.

“And lucky me to have met you, too… Zek.”

She spits out the name as though she knows it’s fake, finger snaking towards her back. A concealed dagger, the gleam of it reflecting the red of the sun as it’s slowly unsheathed, sharp enough to slash. More than sharp enough to gut a fish. Rivergal’s hands grip white-knuckled on the hilt to-

“River?” Shuckette calls, recognizing a familiar silhouette framed by the setting sun’s rays. She forgets everything and runs towards him with open arms. “River!”

“Zek!”

“River!”

River catches Shuck as she jumps into his arms, spinning her around as the two reunite with a kiss. They laugh and chatter amicably at their reunion. All the better for Rivergal as she discreetly resheathes her dagger.

“Seriously, sis, I owe you one,” River manages to say after finally setting down Shuckette.

Shuckette also says her peace, something about how thankful she is to Rivergal for everything the past day, but Rivergal can’t hear her, her brain still reeling as she tries to piece things together. The direction River came in was from the 19th Rule, where Bragon was. Where Bragon was mysteriously killed by a wayward piano-based stand.

River helps Zek onto the horse as they prepare to leave. Zek, that person. With brown hair and freckles and green eyes she should have recognized the moment they first met.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, I’ll let you cash in a favour!” River calls back one last time.

“No need,” Rivergal smiles, stiff and all too rigid as she waves them off. “Just take care, and make sure to stay along the Stream for me.”

Rivergal doesn’t turn away as she watches Kris ride off, with River, the reins and Shuck sitting right behind him. She watches as they slowly disappear into the rolling hills beyond, and keeps walking in the same direction, all the while lingering close to the Stream. 

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Night time is a lot easier now, especially with River at his side.

“I was right, you know?” Shuckette says, curled up in their shared bedroll. Their limbs are already starting to tangle together for a good night’s rest under a starry sky, pressing every inch that they could against the other. “I really missed you. A lot.”

“Not as much as I did,” River says right back.

Shuck licks her lips River follows the motion, unable to take his eyes off of Shuck’s plush, pink lips. Of course, Shuck is a person of science, and according to the scientific method, there’s only one way to know anything for certain.

“Prove it.”

River crowds on top of her as they share a deep kiss. His hands travel to Shuck’s hair, doing what he pleases with their clothes.

“Beautiful…” River mutters, tracing the expanse of her exposed skin with his eyes.

Shuckette’s eyes move down to follow his gaze, only to suddenly freeze as another headache tears through her skull.

Who…?

She instantly shuts her eyes, clutches at her head and starts to scream, and River holding onto her and shushing her and trying his best to help only makes her feel her skin more. Who… Whose body was this? Why does she…?

All throughout the journey, all the sources, but she never so much as looked at her own body to make sure.

Her skin.

Her body.

So why does she have a penis?

“Shuck…” River whispers, trying to get her panicking eyes to focus on him. She stops screaming, and her breaths are stuttering ever so slightly. Still, she can’t help the confusion she feels. “Shuck, it’s alright. Is… Is it another memory?”

"No... This is weird. I was so sure that I had a..."

Shuck looked back down at the body she had, with a toned, flat chest, instead of breasts.

“I don’t… I…” Suddenly, the flaring behind her eyes stops. Her? Even just thinking of the word suddenly makes the pain flare up again. “I think I’m a man.”

“If it’s what you’re worried about, your body doesn’t make you any less of a woman.”

“No, definitely not that. N-Not that I don’t agree with what you said! But I don’t think it’s that. I’ve… I don’t know why I thought I was a woman all this time. I can see myself now and I can… Think about it now, I’m a man. I don’t… All this time, I don’t know why I thought…”

Something in Shuck’s mind had somehow blocked out any thought of Shuck’s body. Whenever Shuck’s voice broke or ‘Piano Man’ was called... Even in the dressing rooms, somehow even seeing that part of Shuck’s body seemed to be a warped and blurry part of a memory.

So why did Shuck think he was…?

“Shuckette…?” River’s blue eyes gazed at him. “Or Shuck? Is that what you want me to call you now?”

Shuck nods, unable to say much else.

"Do you... want to stop?"

"No,” Shuck says, because despite everything, and despite her -- no --  _ his _ confusion, he wouldn’t want to stop this. Not for the world. “I want to have you like this. It’s just... I don't know how to be on the receiving end when..."

"Oh. Oh, that's alright. I'll guide you through it. I'll be gentle." River even adds, “Or if you want to top that’s A-Okay, too.”

All in all, it’s a lot calmer than Shuck would think he would be in the situation. A life-changing realization. A shockwave through his entire body as he readjusts his whole world view. A panic that threatens to bubble up and drown him. The only thing that keeps him whole through all of them is the man he loves.

River.

“Hey... Just so you know, I personally wouldn’t care if you were a guy or a gal. From the start of me falling for you, that was never anything I ever considered.”

“You knew?”

“I mean- Yeah. It seemed obvious from the start,” River says, completely sincerely. He leans down to brush his lips against Shuck’s, melting against his frame and feeling their body heat together.

“But I’ve already decided long ago that I loved you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "plot"


	6. Helping Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'it ain't much but it's honest work' the chapter

Several days and many green hills into the 38th Rule’s countryside later, Shuck and River start to see tilled fields of farmers cultivating the land.

Shuck can hardly see where the crops end as they stretch on around the Stream, rolling waves of wheat, cornstalks, and vines.

The sunrise leads them to a smaller farm, nestled among the golden fields, where a man struggles to push his wheelbarrow out of a muddy ditch.

Shuck signals to River to take the reins as he quickly hops off Kris.

“Pull it a bit more to your left!” The man calls, and Shuck moves accordingly, digging his heels deeper into the mud to leverage his strength. Eventually, the wagon wheel starts to slip, and soon, Shuck is able to grip his hands firmly around the wooden frame to heft it out of the trench.

He pants as River hands him a swig of water for his trouble.

The gentle-looking man walks up to them with a grateful smile. “Thanks a bunch, you guys. I’ve been trying at that for a while now.”

“No problem at all,” Shuck easily replies.

“You two seem travel-weary,” The man says, respect evident on his face. “Looking for a place to rest?”

“Yes, sir,” River answers.

Shuck adds. “We’d be willing to work for our board, too.”

The man nods approvingly, straightening his overalls. His hair, Shuck and River realize, always seemed to stay in an immaculately styled quiff even after all that activity. “What are your names?”

Riverdude makes a dramatically eloquent bow. “Man of the River at your service, though these days, the title Riverdude seems to have stuck.”

“And my name is The Shuckmeister,” Shuck says, wiping the sweat from his brow.

An honest smile creeps up the man's face. “Nice to meet you. I go by GamerMonkeyz.”

“Hang on…” River suddenly looks starstruck. _ “The _ GamerMonkeyz? The GamerMonkeyz of the 16th Rule?”

The man wipes his hand on his overalls and chuckles. “One and the same.”

River seems to sense the question Shuck was about to ask, and immediately switches to explaining. “He was next in line to be the Ruler of the 16th Rule. His followers loved him.”

“I left to start a farm and take care of my daughter,” he says, gesturing to a cozy little farmhouse tucked against the fields. “Never thought I’d see a Stream Guardian again, but I’ll never say no to helping out. Besides, I could at least give you a chance to wash the mud from your clothes before sending you on your merry way.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


River was on barn duty, hammering in the loose wooden boards and replacing any that got rotten. Needless to say, with his experience with wood, he takes to the job very eagerly.

Shuck had mentally prepared himself to do the same as River, so the job that he  _ does _ get assigned comes off as more than a little surprising.

“Why corn?” He asks GamerMonkeyz, who leans against the doorway as Shuck gets a bearing of his new post.

“With a title like yours, we thought you were the most fabled corn shucker in the land.”

Shuck pouts but doesn’t object to the work he has. “So you assigned me this just to make fun of me?”

“Uh, yeah, kinda,” GamerMonkeyz laughs.

“I assigned you here!” Ava, GamerMonkeyz’s daughter says. “I don’t like this job, so I can just get you to do this for me!”

“Yes. You’ve learned from the best.” The man nods approvingly. “I’ll be helping you, of course, Shuck. We can call it... a collaborative effort.”

Titles were a strange thing, Shuck had come to decide once again.

It turns out that Shuck is very adept at shucking corn husks, quickly making it through piles of corn even faster than even GamerMonkeyz himself, to the man’s surprise.

Even still, something tugs at the back of his mind about his title. After all this time, he still has no idea what ‘Shuckmeister’ was even supposed to refer to. If titles were meant to signify an achievement, or a talent, then shucking corn didn’t seem even close enough to be worth killing him over.

“Woah,” GamerMonkeyz chuckles. “Where’d you get so good at this? You make it seem like you grew up in the fields.”

Ah, now here’s another chance for Shuck to wax whatever.

“Well, you see,” He starts. “I grew up having to fight for my life.” That was another thing that he was definitely sure about.

GamerMonkeyz nods attentively, urging him to go on.

“I was born at an incredibly young age… And like all other children, I had the inherent sense of gripping. My family, the warriors, had a grand big focus on our strength. Pens and quills were the fancy man’s toys, but I went through half of my childhood with a sword in either hand, and the other half with swords in both. It wasn't until my sixth birthday that I had the realization of being able to tie one hilt to another, thus forming a double edged sword. This doubled my attack, but alas I cut my hand on the blade.

“As my grip strength flourished, so too did the nimbleness of my fingers. You notice that the word ‘hilt’ starts with ‘h’ and has the same number of letters as ‘husk’. Taking advantage of the fact, my hands have been primed over a lifetime for gripping short, cylindrical, shaft-like objects. This combined with my newfound finger agility has led me to this moment, shucking corn with you at speeds that would make John Corn, the inventor of corn himself, weep with envy.”

GamerMonkeyz had long since stopped in his corn-husking tracks to hear Shuck regale his tale of corn-prowess. Knowing he had an audience, he knew that his job was done.

“It’s bullshit,” Shuck grins. “But you’ll believe it.”

The farmer tosses him a drink and they clink their bottles. “I guess I will.”

Fleetly, the sun sets and GamerMonkeys sets up a big dinner to thank Shuck and River for their work. They sit around the table as they dig in, chatting amicably with Ava joining them, too.

In addition, the board that they worked for was comfortable as well. When GamerMonkeys had mentioned only one bed was available, Shuck and River were all too quick to say how it wouldn’t be a problem. Barely holding back on saying how it was what they preferred.

River had kissed him goodnight as usual, quickly passing out from the amount of exhaustion caused by carpentry work that day. Shuck, on the other hand, isn’t as lucky, now alone in the soft light of the farmhouse.

It’s strange how fast his mood had fallen along with the sun, slowly bathing him in the silence of night time. Not dark enough to scare him, but dark enough so that he should be able to fall asleep.

Also dark enough to remind him just what he was on this journey for.

  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Shuck feels the water of the farm’s pond ripple around his head as he breaches its surface, his mind floating from one thought to the other. Because that’s what you do when you’re torn apart about your identity and memory.

You swim.

Fishing would be easier, he thinks. He would have at least, if he hadn’t realized that every time he even thought of a fishing pole, another knife would stab right through his head and-

_ Nope nope nope nope nope _ . He takes a deep breath and dives back under, endeavouring to swim as low as his body can take.

Shuck had woken up only a few hours after he had drifted off. Tending to the fields even as the sun crossed the horizon and spilled gold onto the farm. River is still snoozing away, and Shuck lets him slumber, sure that he feels drained. Whatever the case, he is thankful that the Guardian can sleep on a comfortable bed again.

He reaches the bottom of the pond. The bellowing silence save for the water rushing past his ears, the pressure around his head, and the sting of the pond against the healing scars on his body are welcome and pleasant distractions. 

And he screams, loud and shameless and unabashedly and undignified ripped straight from his chest and throat. The water distorts and bubbles around the air; he closes his eyes as the bubbles carry his frustrations high up and beyond him. Beyond where he had to worry about them.

Just barely did he stop, right before he could run out of air. He’s good at holding his breath, but there’s no reason to drown now. Especially before he could find out more about himself. Before he really knows who he is again.

He turns his head and tries to mumble out his concerns at the carp poking at his arm. He’s grateful for this, at least. Fish were always attracted to him. 

_ “Eyes,”  _ The voice his his head returns.

“I can’t stop hearing things,” Shuck shifts. His arm moving with him, spooking his potential friend, but he comes back anyway to swim through the bubbles that formed as he talked. How nice. He’s grown a bad habit over the weeks of blocking out that strange voice in his head. Bright idea, because that just made the headaches worse. Not like it was all that helpful now. “It’d be easier if the voice could just tell me who I am, huh...” Shuck adds, his shoulders drooping as he moves to stand and kick off the rocky pond bed, swimming back towards the surface. 

How mean of him, he left his new friend behind.

He knew that being fixated over trivial things instead of being patient enough to reach River’s informant was… less than ideal. But fixation is very appealing in the face of pushing aside all his worries to avoid a headache for now.

Shuck shakes his head, but it can’t help but feel like damp cotton. He took a deep breath as he dipped his head back underwater, seeing if his friend was still there. Shuck absent-mindedly hopes no more attackers would get him while he’s in the water. It’d be like shooting fish in a barrel at this point, and his lack of lucidity certainly made him feel much like one.

Shuck turns to see his friend was still there, nudging at his arm with a friend of his own he brought. They’re probably expecting food.

_ “Eyes,”  _ The voice comes back to him.  _ “Look at their eyes.” _

Another headache twangs inside his head at the thought. Eyes? Whose eyes? His? The fish?

And another twang. Ah, that’s it. The fish eyes. Now, if only he could understand why that was important to him and his past.

“Oh, boy, I sure do enjoy not knowing who I am or why someone tried to kill me. Ain’t it just great that I don’t know who my family is either?” Shuck grumbled. The fish seemed to like it, swimming through the columns of bubbles.

The water was cold enough that not moving made it seem like he was frozen in time, numb and stagnant.

It would be nice staying this way, just about silent, just about still enough to be relaxing instead of suffocating, no regard for the outside world, and no need to worry about his future, or of needing to know who he is.

The curious poking of yet another fish snaps Shuck back to himself; he really needs to get some air at this point. Shuck says his goodbyes to his three new friends, happy at least that they allowed him to pet them, before beginning to swim back to the surface. He turned to see the two fish swimming off together. He entertains himself with the nice thought that they were both siblings as he breaks the surface.

River is there as soon as he breaks out, waiting for him with a towel in hand.

Before he can say hello, there’s something fluffy draped over his head, blocking his view. “You went for a swim but left your towel by the bed, dum-dum,” He hears River say.

Was River drying his hair? How embarrassing! His arms flail around as he tries to assure the man that he can do so just fine himself, but beyond his blushing, there is little he can do before the towel is pulled away and his hair sticks out in all directions, now dry.

“Thank you, River…” He manages to grumble, pointedly ignoring his teasing giggles.

“GamerMonkeyz was looking for you,” River said, giving him a quick peck on the nose. “He’s waiting for you out on the porch.”

Shuck nods, trying his best to clear his head enough to get dressed and lean on River as they walk back to the farmhouse.

\---

The night is peaceful, and the gentle oil lamps and fireflies surrounding the area made the darkness a lot less terrifying than it was at first.

“Ah, there you are, Shuck,” GamerMonkeyz greets him, setting down his sketchbook as he pats the space next to him on the patio bench. “You seem to be bothered by something. I just wanted to say that if you need someone to talk to, I’m always free.”

Bothered by something? Oh, jeez, where to start? His name? Waking up afraid of the dark? His sudden forgetting of his gender? All of his problems seem to tie into his identity.

Or his lack thereof, to be specific.

The wood creaks under him as he sits down. It’s all so achingly homely that Shuck can’t help but spill his heart.

He takes a deep breath to calm down. Okay. Start with the most isolated problem.

“I hear things,” Shuck says. “It’s a voice that I think I should know, but with my head being messed up, I can’t remember much of anything about myself.”

“Hm,” GamerMonkeyz says, listening intently. “I’ve heard rumors of illnesses like that, but I’m afraid I don’t have any kind of medical training.”

“I’ll understand everything once I finally meet River’s informant,” Shuck says. After all, he has to, otherwise, the thought of living his life not knowing things forever is... “I’m sure of it.”

GamerMonkeyz takes a while to think, trying to process Shuck’s words. “River told me about what you two have been through to get here, and a bit about your situation. It must be pretty scary, huh?”

Shuck sighs, and nods. “I have to know who I am, and why there’s someone out there trying to kill me.”

GamerMonkeyz nods understandingly. “That does sound important. And why do you feel like you have to?”

The answer comes like most things that came to Shuck in the recent days, all too quickly without any conceivable sense why.

“Because I have to carry on my family name.”

He smiles at Shuck. “So if you find out your name, you’ll finally be able to find peace?”

“I sure hope so… I also want to know if I really do have a family.”

The light of the fireflies dances in Shuck’s eyes, reminding him of the stars that him and River laid under nights ago.

“I definitely get you on that. Family is important, after all. If River’s friend can tell you who you are,” GamerMonkeyz says. “Then, all that’s left to do is wait.”

“It’s difficult.”

“It is,” GamerMonkeyz agrees. “A lot of this is outside your control, but it was your decision to go on this journey to begin with.”

That’s true, Shuck supposes.

It’s a process, he discovers as well. Mourning a loss is just as important as the steps to recovery, and there isn’t any reason why he shouldn’t be able to feel what he’s feeling. When it comes to it, action is the only way forward. Beides, he won’t be alone while he recovers either. He smiles as he remembers just who’s waiting for him in the guest house, on their shared bed.

“Thanks for having me, Mr. Monkeyz.”

“Can’t keep you here for too long,” He sends Shuck off with a warm pat on the back. “But you’re always welcome back as a guest anytime.”

\---

Sleep evades him once again as Shuck sneaks away at night to roam the farmlands. The Stream is looking inviting, Shuck thinks. Swimming always helps calm the mind.

Shuck pears into the waters.

Someone stares back.

Brown hair. Freckles. Big, round eyes that saw too much, and had to cut off communication to his mind.

So familiar. He sees himself, just barely, but it's like someone else is looking back. Just as he recognizes who, the Stream ripples and he stares back at a blurred image of himself.

He reaches a hand out to the other him.

Hand.

Another pang in his brain tells him how important that is.

A hand.

He was holding someone's hand so long ago, wasn't he?

The other him reaches back. A slow offering of hands as they both get closer. He can almost see it now, the other. The one he's been missing all this time. The one he's been searching for is here, with him as they've always been. Close, so close and he can reach them. He can reach her.

Green eyes fade blue.

Someone grabs his hand and drags him screaming into the Stream.

His screams muffle the second his head submerges in the cold. He's thrown deeper into the river and his water-logged clothes weigh down, suddenly feeling infinitely heavier. His voice is lost in the deluge, and as he thrashes around, all he can see is the rippling surface of the water too far for him to reach.

Burning lungs.

The feeling of a slow wave pushing him down.

A stabbing inside his head. He’s felt this before.

_ “Stand,”  _ the voice in his head returns, only to be snuffed out by the rush of water and the pressure in his ears as he’s deliberately dragged further down. The voice had offered useful advice for once. This could be the work of an enemy stand. Shuck should use his Piano Man.

But Piano Man is useless without a target.

First things first, Shuck endeavours to not lose any more breath, focusing solely on locating his attacker that pulled him in.

He soon realizes that his effort to kick his legs is futile, not helping at all as his torso is weighed down. This, however, helps him realize that it’s only his torso being weighed down. He notices that his arms are moving much slower than they were supposed to, slowed down with the effort of moving his shirt.

It’s not just the water weighing him down; the attacker is somehow slowing down the movement of his shirt in the water.

The water gurgles around his mouth as he calls for his stand.

“PIANO MAN!”

A humanoid figure appears, blue and sleek, and Shuck knows the feeling at his fingertips is the manifestation of his stand. His clothes may be weighed down, but his stand isn’t. He commands Piano Man to rip open his shirt.

The buttons pop off one after the other as Shuck wriggles out, pushing against the bottom of the river to swim to the surface.

He’s barely halfway there when he feels another weight bear down on him, this time slowing down his leg, preventing him from swimming to the surface. Shuck begins to panic. The attacker could be anywhere from where he is right now.

Wait.

That’s the panic talking.

Thinking about it logically, they had to be close after pulling Shuck in. And more evidence of this is that the attacker must be able to see Shuck from the water’s surface, otherwise they wouldn’t know Shuck managed to escape the first time.

‘So if the attacker is close…’ Shuck thinks. ‘Then it’s worth a shot if I…!’

He feels the first vibration shake through the water.

Then another.

Then another still.

‘If the attacker was hiding out on the surface,’ Shuck reasons, ‘Then at least one of the pianos that might hit them.’

Each of them land with an awful crash accompanied by the keys smashing together to sing one last horrid chorus before getting destroyed. The vibrations of each piano hitting the ground reverberates through the water and through his ears. Just as Shuck is running out of breath, he feels his leg be released.

He’s free to move again and uses Piano Man to pull him out of the Stream.

He breaches, coughing and hacking up water surrounded by broken pianos. 

The assailant is nowhere in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot coming back full force next chapter


	7. Master of the Shuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hardest chapter to write by far

Telling GamerMonkeyz about Shuck’s ordeal has him rushing to the stables to fetch Kris.

Regrettably, they have to leave soon, but if Shuck could be in danger by staying put -- not just to himself, but even to GamerMonkeyz and Ava -- then River doesn’t want to take that risk. GamerMonkeyz even gives them a bit of coin for the road as thanks for their help. For all the past few nights that they had to be well-rested, this goodbye was more than bittersweet.

“Shuck! Wait!” Ava runs up to them, clutching a piece of paper in her hand.

“Ava, what’s up?” Shuck asks.

“I needed to show you this picture I drew for you!”

Ava holds up the drawing, a cute little rendition of Shuck and River riding a horse together in a pink field of flowers while a sun smiles down on them with a slick pair of shades.

“It’s beautiful,” Shuck smiles. “I’ll remember it forever.”

River helps him up onto Kris, taking the backseat to give Shuck the reins.

“Thank you for everything!” River calls. “You really helped us a lot!”

“Don’t mention it!” GamerMonkeyz replies. “You both take care of yourselves alright?”

Shuck inexplicably jolts in the saddle, the pain back in his head. River catches him just in time to stop him from falling over.

Ah, one of these moments.

Hopefully, the last of which after Shuck finally discovers who he is.

They wave goodbye at GamerMonkeyz and Ava one last time before they’re cracking the reins and speeding off. They leave as they once entered, riding into the sunrise. The Capital city of the 38th Rule would be in sight by noon, and the rising feeling of anticipation and fear started to beat inside of Shuck.

This would be it.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The 38th Rule is much warmer than the other Rules, and the sunlight washes over the Capital City to shine against the many tall windows and elaborate metalwork. The entire city looks like a front lawn with how much open space and grass there was in between the tall buildings. River had mentioned how his friend would be waiting just beyond the city walls.

They weave through crowds of people until they reach the end of the city, separated by steep walls. Sitting by the brick with a sandwich in hand once they reach the other side is a man wearing a strange, tall fur hat with horns sticking out.

“A Scrub for Hire…” River says at last. “You have no idea the trouble we went through to get here.”

The man looks up as he bites into his sandwich to see the two.

“Oh, it’s you,” Scrub says, a hint of shock visible on his face as he looks at Shuck. “Didn’t think I’d see you again.”

The hope that Shuck has been building up to reach here has reached its peak. ‘Again.’ Familiarity. This is the man who knows who he is. Scrub knows who he is, and what happened to him. Shuck could almost cry from relief.

“You see, Scrub,” River speaks up in his place. “I told my friend here that you have precious information that we need.”

“Well, you see, my title isn’t exactly A Scrub for Free,” Scrub says. He drops his sandwich on accident, but picks it right up again to finish it off, laughing at River’s scandalized expression. “Some gold might dissuade me from striking you down where you stand.”

Shuck scrambles to reach into River’s pocket to pull out a small leather pouch, the one that GamerMonkeyz had given him as they left. He eagerly holds it out to Scrub as he pours out the many golden coins into his hand. “Please take this. Please. I need to know who I am.”

Scrub grins. He stands up to meet them as he takes the money, counting each of the gold pieces before tucking them away.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why was I trapped under a cliff? Why are people trying to kill me?  _ Who _ are the people trying to kill me? And why…? Why don’t I know who I am?” The words flow from Shuck's mouth in a hurry, worried that he just might combust at any moment from the hot geyser threatening to blow inside him.

Scrub answers.

“You’re The Shuckmeister,” he simply starts. “Next in line to be the Ruler of the 34th Rule with the Stand, Piano Man. Your title, Shuckmeister, was named after your skill and prowess in orating, charisma, and persuasion. It’s bullshit,” Scrub smiles coyly. “But you’ll believe it.”

He pauses, debating which question to answer next for most payoff.

“As for who’s trying to kill you…” He trails off, eyes drifting to his coin purse. “It’s the same person as the one who trapped you under the cliff, and same one that the late BragonGod worked for. It’s the Maiden of the River, your partner’s twin sister.”

Riverdude, calm up until this point, suddenly lunges towards Scrub and grabs him by the collar. “Cut the crap, Scrub! What would you know about my sister!?”

“WOAH! Calm down, bud,” Scrub complains, holding his hands up. “You’re acting like she isn’t my friend, too, you know?! She pays well, I’m just the informant, here!”

“She… She wouldn’t… She…” River releases Scrub. “Nat, she wouldn’t, there’s no way… Why would she…?”

Shuck is reeling from the onslaught of information, too. Everything starts clicking into place, even if he doesn’t like it. It was Rivergal who sent his carriage off the road. It was Rivergal who told Bragon to kill them. The darkness in her eyes, and even the strange way she was acting after Shuck started hinting about who he was.

‘Make sure to stay along the Stream for me,’ she had said. She was the one who tried to drown Shuck.

“You get more control over followers as a Ruler, compared to a Guardian, not to mention control over the 34th Rule itself. Her plan was to get rid of the heirs when a coronation is due, leaving the next in line as her.”

Scrub turns his attention back onto Shuck, looking at him with the barest hint of pity. “Speaking of sisters, it looks like she made it halfway if yours isn’t here.”

The headache suddenly spreads throughout his body, turning each of his joints into fragile frost as his mind melts around that one word. “My… My what…?”

“The other heir to the throne. The one who was supposed to take the throne by your side,” Scrub explains, as if he didn’t just shatter Shuck’s worldview. “Your twin sister, The Shuckmeisterin.”

At the mention of that name, Shuck falls to his knees and screams, the ice of his blood turning to poison turning to fire as he desperately clutches his head in shaking hands. He barely registers Scrub watching on, or River rushing to his side, or the color of the sky as he’s sent back into the darkness underneath the cliff.

His head implodes from the force of memories being pulled from the depths at light speed.

Shuck remembers.

  
  
  
  


Unravelling strings covered in gunpowder, coiled tight and struck together. Strings catching fire, fire lighting gunpowder that sent the air from his lungs and the rocks from the cliff face.

He was falling then, like a wave pushing him down, slow and deliberate.

He was falling then, feeling like an asteroid being sent to pierce through the earth, the fall controlled and accelerated by a familiar blue baton.

He was holding her hand.

Terrified she would fall out of the carriage; she was hanging out of the window, the wind whipping against her brown hair nearly hiding the blooms of red. Her eyes wide, mouth forming words Shuck couldn’t hear.

The strings lunged for her exposed body hanging out of the carriage. Each pinpoint spark that speared her was a dagger to my heart; each of the red, linear lacerations against her was a slash against my throat.

It felt still. It felt wrong.

A sudden falter weighed down, flipping over the entire carriage midair and slamming Shuckette and Shuck into the cliff face.

Warm crimson splattered onto my face as Shuckette was crushed like a flower.

The cliff gave way under the force of the impact, and he could feel the sensation of rock sliding against rock vibrating against her insides, all jagged edges and crushing weight as they fell. 

His eyes, his body, his heart, his lungs. Her eyes, her body, her heart, her blood.

Body.

Heart

Blood.

His eyes, seeing everything, seeing too much, suddenly saw nothing.

He was holding her hand, ripped apart from her body as she was slammed against the cliff face. Unable to process that his twin sister -- the only family he ever had -- had died in such pain, his mind snapped away any recollection of her; any recollection of her blood vanished from his memory, and was inverted to make Shuck relive the life his sister was torn away from.

He had to carry on the family name.

  
  
  
  


“No…” Shuck’s face is distraught as he shakes his head over and over again like a broken toy. “No no no no… There’s no way that…”

“The River Maiden and BragonGod were able to successfully kill Shuckmeisterin, but she’s after you now.”

Scrub interrupts their shaken worldview as he kicks at a stray pebble.

“Another thing I mentioned at the start was how I could strike you down where you stood…” Scrub said, walking towards them menacingly as a strange black aura started to pool at his feet. “When I said the River Maiden paid well, I meant for my services as a mercenary. That is to say, she paid me to finish the job.”

The ominous black fog billows and sprouts a glowing pair of looming, yellow eyes.

“Look, I’m really sorry about this. It’s nothing personal, but it’s only fair I hold up my end of the bargain.”

The dark fog slowly seeps into the brick flooring around them as realization sets in.

They were in for another fight.

Shuck tries to yell for River to be on his guard. Just as he’s about to say so, Scrub disappears into the fog as it engulfs the environment in an all too familiar darkness.

“SCRUB!” River yells, still enraged. “COME AT ME, YOU BASTA-Mmpff??”

The gas pushes itself into River’s mouth stopping him from saying anything else as it wraps around him, rooting him in place as Scrub walks towards Shuck next.

“Scrub!” Shuck tries, body running on autopilot to get them out of the situation. “You don’t have to do this. Take a moment to listen to me. You don’t want to be on Rivergal’s side!”

“I’m on the side of whoever pays me. Right now that’s the same employer who told me all about how she tried to drown you,” Scrub says, turning Shuck’s blood to ice. “Said if you two showed up here that I should finish what she started.”

“But you won’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you see yourself in me,” Shuck says, barely understanding what he’s saying either. “I saw how you picked up that sandwich after it fell. I know what that’s like, to only want warmth and comfort but have the earth take it all away from you, leaving you desperate for each little piece you can get.

“It’s a twist of fate. Like every other kid in the gutter, I grew up fighting first and speaking second. You should know. We’ve met however many times before this, haven’t we? A scared child trying to find his way back on life, roaming the streets to find the warmth sorely missing from inside him, lost in the dark without any stars left to guide him. You know me, Scrub. You know me…”

Shuck swallows as he continues his monologue, noticing how captivated Scrub has become as he hung on to every word Shuck said. Even his fog’s grip on River had loosened, letting his mouth free at least.

Shuck carries on.

“Rivergal’s taken my identity away from me. With my childhood gone, I’m no one. It wasn’t even until I met you again that I remembered what my name was. You won’t leave me in the dark anymore like she did, I’m sure of it. I know that’s how you feel -- how you used to feel -- because you’re the same as me. Because I’m you... Always have been...”

Scrub laughs as Shuck catches his breath. “I’m calling bullshit on that.”

“But you’ll believe it…” He has to. He has to, because otherwise...

“I gotta say, you might have a point…” Scrub takes River’s bow and a flint-tipped arrow from his quiver. “But so do I.”

Scrub aims at Shuck’s head. Shuck barely hears River’s distant yelling. 

“NO!!”

Scrub fires.

Shuck’s eyes reopen and he sees that the arrow had missed his head by a hair’s breadth, firmly wedged into the concrete of the city walls. It would’ve been a fatal blow that pinned his brains to the Capital. It would’ve, if Scrub hadn’t missed.

“You can leave now,” Scrub says, lowering the bow and nonchalantly returning it to River.

The black fog releases them, sending Shuck into a double take.

“Wait… Why?”

“I was hired to kill you, so I shot an arrow,” Scrub shrugs. “I missed, so you can leave now.”

“Why... Why would you do that?” Shuck still feels as though he’s shaking, but from what at this point, he can’t tell.

“It’s nothing personal. Well, no, that’s not completely true,” Scrub laughs. “They call you Shuckmeister for a reason, don’t they?”

River looks distraught. “She- She paid you and everything didn’t she?”

“Oh, of course she did. Way more than both of you, might I add. But, I never really liked any of the Rivers,” Scrub looks back at River. “No offense.”

“Offense  _ fully _ taken, what are you talking about?!”

All the while Shuck still can’t comprehend as to just why Scrub is letting them go, or maybe his mind can’t think properly at all for the time being.

Scrub notices. “Hey, princey, keep your head up. You did a good job just now, and I did tell you who you were, didn’t I?”

He leaves just as quickly as they met him, kicking up dust somewhere into the city and disappearing into the crowd, not bothering to look back as Shuck and River are left with the aftermath of a lifetime filled with realizations and broken spirits..

“Are you okay, Shuck?”

Has… Has he ever been…?

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


A strange fog had settled and sunk down to the recesses of Shuck’s mind, making any emotion feel much too heavy to process. He travelled silently by River’s side, the other man not seeming interested in conversation either.

River rode them to a small fishing village by a lake to rest for the night, just on the outskirts of the 34th Rule, dim lanterns illuminating the surrounding area.

The two didn’t talk as they dragged their feet into the village. River asked a local for a place to stay. Shuck didn’t hear most of the conversation, listlessly letting River pull him whichever direction. He thinks he’s being pulled into a cabin, his things being shrugged off to lay on the floor as he’s guided into bed. He doesn’t stay for very long, and soon his legs move of their own accord. His mind is somewhere far away, maybe still trapped under the cliff, rotting in the suffocating, cold, darkness long enough that he eventually stops thinking.

It’s quite noisy tonight, as noisy as past midnight can be. 

The crickets aren’t letting up. The dogs are barking at who knows what. All together with the rush of the night wind whisking through town is louder than ever. It’s something to keep his mind from wandering to anything too sad, at least, as he makes his way to the empty pier with a towel.

He’s already started taking off his overcoat and basic clothing, leaving him only in his swimming shorts. Because what do you do when you’re torn apart about the loss of your sister?

That’s right, you swim.

More accurately, you sit at the bottom of the pond and wait until something happens. It’s very bright and very noisy tonight. He glances down into the water from where he was at the edge of the pier, making out at least the rocks of the lakebed from the low light of the moon and lanterns filtering through the depths. The bottom of the pond looks very tempting. Time to pay it a visit.

Just as he’s jumped off the pier, he sees a figure with a blue cape in the corner of his eye. Ah, Riverdude.

He’s about to turn to greet him, but then he’s submerged in a familiar, dark, and silent coldness. He allows himself a moment of silence, before blowing the air out of his lungs to sink lower, lower, lower down.

His feet reach the rocky floor as a comforting pressure embraces him. His ears are tight from it, and he can’t hear any fish tonight. They must all be hiding in their little alcoves until the morning light. Or maybe it was just too dark at the bottom to see any of them swimming around. They would usually swim towards Shuck if they saw him, so they must be staying away for some reason. Good, no one else will be able to see him cry.

Tears can’t fall underwater. He doesn’t have to hassle himself about wiping them off either, no. The only thing he has to worry about is how hot the tears are when they spill, burning his eyes as they’re swept away by the cold water.

Maybe the fish were all sleeping. If only he could fall asleep too. It’s such a shame, just getting more of his memories back, only to have them be used for grieving. How cruel.

He screams again, letting his voice be lost as a faint gurgling in the darkness, the large column of bubbles floating far too high for him to reach for. The heat in his eyes never lets up, and his chest is tight from wallowing in his sorrow like this. That’s another difference between him and his twin. She wouldn’t scream like this. She was strong, resilient. She wouldn’t have to run away to hide where no one could hear him. She would be halfway done with the fourth stage of grief. He’s still stuck at the start. How pathetic.

Even his last words to her were pathetic. 

“Take care of yourself…”

As if it was something she could control. As if his sister would want to leave. As if she didn’t love him. Shuck knew she loved him. Shuck loved her. So that was another thing he was so hung up on... The fact that he didn't make use of the last thing he could say to his sister by telling her how much he loved her.

Honestly, what was he thinking? Dealing with his grief by taking a dip in a lake? Stopping his screaming just so that the bubbles don’t make any noise? Sleeping it off would be more normal. That’s what his sister would say, wouldn’t she? 

It’s not wise to take emotions into a battlefield, but it’s important to feel it all the same. Let’s sleep it off. Bring over one of those big blankets. You’ll feel better in the morning. I promise.

That’s what she said however many years ago, after they both officially started their training. They were still teenagers at that point, and not quite ready to make it with the rest of the knights. He was terribly shaken up by having to kill, but not enough to shake his outward appearance of being a strong heir to the throne, yet Shuckette had noticed him feeling off that night as they both washed the blood of their weapons. He noticed Shuckette feeling the same. The same look in her eyes.

“You’ve always been the more empathetic one,” she said. “Always feeling others’ pain better than even they can sometimes.”

By all accounts, it shouldn’t have been a fond memory.

You got the blanket? Hey, hey! Make some room for me.

At least in the silence, it was easier to remember, maybe even to hear the memories a little clearer. There was no rush to stop either. Shuck could stay down here as long as he wanted. No noise. No commitments. No hurting. No more tears. At least this time, staying down in the silence would be a choice, not something forced onto him. He closes his eyes and lets the water settle his limp body onto the rocky bed of the pond. Still and silent at last.

Then, something disturbs his silence.

A muted splash from the surface brings a disturbance into the calm water and shakes his eyes open to look up. The light from the surface makes it so that he’s barely able to make out the shape of someone who fell into the water. The light filters in and around the figure like a sunbeam around a cloud. An angel? He didn’t think that angels could swim. It certainly felt like an angel, with their strong arms gathering him up, and their sunlight blond hair, and their… Blue cape…

Shuck’s eyes open wide as River hurriedly pushes off the bed of the lake, pulling Shuck close by the waist as he pulls them to the surface. The cape and the metal he’s wearing isn’t making it easy, but he manages to hold onto him as tight as he can until they reach the surface.

The noise returns all at once when they breach, and River’s able to hoist them both up the pier.

“Shuck!” River says quickly as he rushes to aid the shivering boy, sopping wet and now hacking up water. River nearly misses how he coughs himself, but it’s hardly a new sensation for him. A touch more breathless than usual, but nothing he’s alarmed by. “What were you doing? 

“Riv- “ More coughing. “River-” He was shaking so much. Was the water that cold for him?

“Shh shh, hey, no more of that. We need to get you dry,” He said as he picked up his towel to start by drying Shuck’s hair. “You’re shaking. We need to get you out of those clothes too. It’s late, but I’ll have to take you to the bath…” Brown hair stuck out in all directions once River was done drying it, leaving the shivering man still wet neck down. “Honestly, what were you thinking? Jumping into the lake so late at night, without any supervision, no less. It’s not like you to be so reckless…”

Shuck looked at him with watery eyes and a hurt expression that broke his heart. Oh... Why was he crying...? “Why did you…?”

“You didn’t come up to the surface after so long...”

“I can… I can hold my breath for a long time-”

“A long-?! You were down there for over 5 minutes, Shuck!”

Shuck was confused at that. He tried to figure out what he meant by that as he dried himself off. “I just mentioned-” Shuck is interrupted by another coughing fit. 

River hurries to drape his clothes over himself and cover Shuck in the towel before picking him up - hands holding him up like a bride - and heading to a bathhouse to warm him back up. For a prince of the north, he suddenly seemed awfully vulnerable to the cold water and River could feel him shaking against his chest.

Shuck mumbled tired ramblings into River’s overcoat. He was getting the Guardian wet, but that was the least of River’s worries at the moment. He needed to get Shuck warm, first, and in some dry clothes.

Shuck’s ears caught on the next words River said, choked out through tears and coughed up lake water.

“Shuck, please… Please take care of yourself…”

It dawned on him at that moment just what it meant when River was crying, waiting for him, his lover, to surface again only to worry when after minutes ticked by he never did. His idiot of a lover, who seriously considered falling asleep at the bottom of the lake after losing his sister, and needed to be brought back to reality by the Stream Guardian saving him and pulling him out.

“Please don’t leave me, Shuck… We can’t… I can’t lose you too…”

“River… I’m… I’m sorry…”

River shushes him as he sees more tears spilling, holding him tighter and closer to his chest. “It’s okay.” He would do everything it took for Shuck’s safety at least, every other thought cleared from his mind.

“Thank you...”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

River bought me a diary. He’s trying to keep up our morale.

After all this time, it reminds me of the ones  her and I that used to be in my possession.

I’ll try my best, but whenever I write, I always remember her and .

_ ;  _




⬤

* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ Eating is even harder than before. Unlike my memories, my taste didn’t return alongside my recollection of the event. _

_ The voice has joined my taste in that regard. I don’t ever think I’ll be able to hear her voice ever again. _

_ I miss it. _

* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ My mind has cleared enough for me to stop seeking water in my lungs. Thinking at all during these past few days have been wearying, much less when I’m thinking of her. _

_ I tricked myself into living as my own sister to avoid the realization that she was dead. My life belonged to her, even in her death. I suppose the next logical step would be to grieve, but I hardly know when the proper time for it is. _

_ River likes that I write in the journal he bought me. I’ll endeavour to write more. _

* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ Today I caught River crying when he thought I couldn’t see. He told me that this was the first time, but from my own experience, I’m sure he’s been hiding this for a while now. _

_ I try my best to comfort him, though I can’t do much without crying myself as I hugged him. We both lost our sisters in some way or the other, and if there’s any way for me to help River as he helped me, I hope to find out soon. _

_ I missed holding him. He’s so warm. Has he always been? _

* * *

_ I woke up in the middle of the night from a dream of falling. River was awake when I opened my eyes. _

_ He cried against me again, and I didn’t fare any different after we shared our troubles. He finally fell asleep against me, and as I’m writing this, I can feel his heartbeat against me. His steady, even breaths mark him being more serene than I’ve seen him in days. _

_ I want to keep him safe. _

* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ There’s no more ignoring the next step River and I have to take. I try to make peace with what we have to do, but there’s been an unspoken agreement between us to not mention it as much as possible. _

_ I don’t like thinking about what we have to do. Fighting of any kind has always been a last resort and I doubt the effectiveness of it, or even the possibility of being able to defeat her. Blood will not wash out blood. _

_ Yet every time I remember my real name, the one that I was before the Shuckmeister, there’s a renewed sense of purpose that runs through my veins. _

_ She needs to be avenged no matter what. _

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ We ride out tomorrow to take back the 34th Rule. River is quieter than usual, though I suppose I am too these days. _

_ I miss the person I was before this journey. I want to go back. I want to live somewhere peaceful with River, to share a bed together without worrying about a roof over our heads or about where we’d find our next meal. _

_ The only solid plan we have to take back the 34th Rule is through peaceful dialogue. It’s the last resort to bring out violence of any kind. _

_ I don’t want to deal in the lives of lost sisters. _

* * *

  
  


_ Entry XX. 8th Moon, Year 20XX _

_ The 34th Rule is in sight. _

_ There is no such thing as no doubt. But even with a weak resolve, the knowledge that I have support from River will have to be enough to drive me ahead. _

_ I doubt there is such a thing as completely moving on, either. Grief is not instantaneous, but the journey of mourning starts with acknowledgement. I’ve started grieving long before I realized it, even before I knew she was gone, but I must press on. In moving forward, I will find the strength to live on. I can’t let my life be dictated by those past, and so it’s all that I can do to live for what I believe in. _

_ In the end, this is how I will choose to carry my family name. _

_ I am The Shuckmeister. My name is… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shuck | ʃʌk | chiefly North American
> 
> verb [with object]
> 
> 2 informal  
> cause (someone) to believe something that is not true;  
> It’s bullshit, but you will believe it
> 
> I mean if the dictionary says so, who am I to question it.
> 
> Also fellow dimitri stans know which lines i borrowed from best boy.


	8. The 34th Rule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 34th Rule has it's Ruler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short and sweet. thank you for making it this far

The Capital is a lot quieter than Shuck expects, nearly devoid of any people in the streets as they ride. Castle walls are soon in sight, circling the structure built upon the edge of a cliff, dropping low towards the ocean. An unmistakable wave of deja vu washes over him.

Welcome home.

It’s River that speaks first. 

“I can’t fight her, Shuck…” He says, already sounding defeated. “She’s my sister.”

Shuck understands more than anybody what that statement means right now. “I understand. I won’t make you fight her either. I don’t want to kill her. I can’t.”

“No. I’d understand if you did. She’s… She’s my sister, but I can’t believe she would do this… Any of this.”

“I won’t kill her.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

The two dismount their horse as they proceed on foot, deathly silence around them as they move closer to their final destination. Neither of them is willing to admit anything further. River mentions how the empty streets must be Rivergal’s doing.

“How do you know that?”

“She’s my sister,” River remarks, somberly lingering on the word ‘sister’. “I’d do the same thing.”

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Shuck pushes the gates open, seeing the throne room stripped bare of any decorations. Rivergal stands in the center as if already expecting them to come, framed by the one large opening in the wall, a windowsill without a window overlooking the rocky ocean below. She has guards stationed around her stance ready to fight on her command. The Rule Enforcers of the 34th Rule, the Requiem Staff, all recognize Shuck the moment he walks in.

“Don’t bother,” Rivergal orders. “You serve the throne, and right now, I command it.” She laughs her unnatural laugh, making each hair of Shuck’s body stand on edge. Lacking any warmth, humor nor mercy. Her heels click against the floor as she walks towards them. The guard follows after her on command, moving to block Shuck and River’s exit.

“Hello there, dear brother. Of all the people to fall in love with, you go and pick the one person I’m trying to kill…”

“Natalie,” River pleads. “I don’t want to fight you.”

Rivergal’s smile falls, leaving a twisted snarl.

“Then don’t!” Rivergal shoves him back, quickly pulling out her own blue baton. “When Doves Cry!” Rivergal’s baton speeds up River as he flies out of the room and into the arms of the Rule Enforcers. The door falls shut as River screams for his sister.

Shuck is left alone with Rivergal, and he won’t waste this opportunity.

He lunges for Rivergal, only to feel a familiar tug at his shirt. “The same trick won't work on me twice! PIANO MAN!”

The power at his fingertips materializes into his stand alongside a piano forming in the air directly above Rivergal. Shuck sends Piano Man up into the air as it falls, rapidly punching it into the ground to heighten the impact.

It plummets with a deadly  _ boom _ as Rivergal just barely manages to slow it down enough to dodge. She wipes the blood off her mouth, having bit her tongue in the process and looking furious.

With the baton no longer on him, Shuck lunges at her as she’s dazed. “This is for my SISTER!” He nails her in the face as he punches with his stand, sending Rivergal flying back from the recoil.

“GAH!” She skids on the floor as she lands, already looking worse for wear. This was the person who killed his sister? The one so intent on destroying him all this time? Shuck can’t suppress his own sneer as he watches her struggle to get up. “PAH, it's her own fault for being so weak anyway! All the more reason I deserve the throne when she couldn’t even survive! Maybe she would still be alive if you pulled her out of the carriage fast enough.”

Shuck’s vision goes red with rage. “Shut up shuT UP SHUT UP!!”

He summons another piano right above Rivergal again, who effortlessly slows it down.

“Too slow!” She mocks him. “If you love your sister that much, you can say ‘hi’ to her in the afterlife for me!”

He can’t.

He can’t, he can’t. Because if he fails, then she would’ve died for nothing.

With his rage simmering over into righteous fury, Shuck takes a shaky breath. He can’t let Rivergal get to him or distract him.

Shuck runs to the opening at the end of the room, Rivergal following close behind.

“Careful now, Shuck! You just might fall if you get close to the edge!” Rivergal taunts as she retaliates with punches of her own. Shuck is just barely able to block or dodge a flurry of accelerated fists as they swing in big arcs. One hits his face. A kick strikes him in the stomach. He hits her in the side and she retaliates with a swift jab to his.

It’s when Rivergal aims to jab at his face that he makes his move.

Shuck grabs her by the wrist mid-swing.

“H-Huh?!” Rivergal is momentarily stunned as Shuck redirects the momentum of her fist, suddenly aware that Piano Man had grabbed her baton during her moment of shock. He sees Rivergal’s expression cycle through different emotions by a split-second. Shock. Anger. Denial. Fear. He grabs at the edge of the windowsill and jumps with the force of Rivergal’s own punch, taking Rivergal with him over the ledge.

Shuck grips at the edge, dangling by one hand over the crashing ocean.

He was holding her hand.

Shuck can hear the sounds of the ocean below him as they dangle, wind rushing past their ears.

“Shuck!” Rivergal says, suddenly not as confident as before. “Y-You can’t do this! Think about my brother! He’ll be devastated if you kill me! If you kill me, you won’t be any better than me or Bragon. All you’re doing is perpetuating a cycle, don’t you understand!? Pull us back up so I can see my brother again!”

Her eyes pleaded with him, but they didn’t hold nearly the same humanity as River’s. Her eyes were nowhere near as sympathetic as his own sister. Shuck sees right through her act. It’s bullshit, and he’s not believing it.

Shuck lets go of her hand.

“Piano man!”

Rivergal falls. Shuck can hear her shrieks as she falls, but the piano falls faster. It hits her head on, and she’s silent even before she hits the water.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The doors to the castle open, and the Requiem Staff looks up to find Shuck walking out, blue baton in hand.

“The 34th Rule has its Ruler.” 

He throws down the baton, and snaps it against the pavement. The guards move hurriedly, getting on their knees to salute him. But Shuck doesn’t care about that. What he cares about, who she cares about, is standing behind them, still staring at him.

  
  


“Did you…?” River is almost afraid to look at Shuck, hands trembling as they try their best to reach out and hold him. The sun’s light cast their shine on Shuck’s hair, it makes it seem as though he’s glowing.

“I’m sorry…” Was all that Shuck could say, any other words lost on him.

River collapses into his arms, his entire body shaking with the force of having to hold in his tears. Shuck holds him close as he did night ago, comforting him as best he could with his presence, an arm around his waist and gentle hand at his back.

“You… How did you do it?”

He pulls away from Shuck, still sniffling, but Shuck can only look at him, concerned. “Is it really best if I tell you how she-”

“Not that...” River interrupts him. “How did you get over… Losing… Losing your sister…?”

After weeks of journeying together, the two have grown irrevocably close, but not close enough. Never close enough, always craving more warmth. Shuck smiles at him sadly, holding him tight. “I never did. But like how you were there for me, I’ll be there for you.”

River’s dam breaks, and tears start to flow down his face as he sobs into Shuck’s clothes. Shuck is there to hold him tight.

“I’m sorry...” River manages in-between weeps.

“Thank you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter at the end is all fluff, let's go


	9. King's Rock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around, guys

_ A new era begins for the 34th Rule. With the defeat of the demented Maiden of the River and her lacky, BragonGod, the Shuckmeister assumed his rightful place on the throne as he was finally crowned as a Ruler. The new Requiem Staff was appointed to carry out his command for peace. By his side was the Stream Guardian, The Man of the River, who helped guide the troubled Rule into an advanced age of prosperity. _

_ A Scrub for Hire was there to watch the coronation, though sources say it was only because Shuck had paid him to. _

_ Among the crowd was also Schroder, wearing his finest porkpie hat for the occasion, always with his inexplicable basketball strapped to his side. _

_ Though work was demanding, the two would work tirelessly with their Rule Enforcers to maintain peace among their followers. During Shuck and River’s downtime, it is said that they would sneak away together to a certain farm to have tea with the company there. _

_ Museums would remember the time when tapestries of Shuck dominated the walls of the 34th Rule. On his decree, King Shuck had more paintings made to honour his fallen sister, Shuckette, which was then regarded as a universal symbol of passion and devotion. _

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


He finds Shuck in the tower, dressing up in his best suit for the day.

“You just gonna stare or are you gonna do something?” Shuck calls. River jumps a bit, not expecting Shuck to hear him. “It’s purple, too. What do you think?”

River enters the room to find him standing before a floor length mirror. He’s wearing a cape, regal and fur lined. Though the green should definitely clash with the purple, with it belonging to Shuck, it just works. His soft, brown hair is combed back, locks neatly arranged with little hidden pins to hold them in place. Even with the whole armoury and leather shops at his disposal, he refuses to wear any other boots besides the green ones that River had picked out for him all the way back in the 19th Rule.

It’s him, standing there as awkward as ever, fidgeting on his heels. 

Oh, that’s right, River forgot how to talk.

“Aw really? That bad?” Shuck says, though he’s still smiling. “The cape probably looks terrible too, huh?”

“The opposite,” River rushes to say. “Everything you wear looks perfect. You look perfect.” He can’t help the words of affection, much like how Shuck can’t help his own blush that makes its appearance at the small gesture. After all this time, they both find comfort at how easily they can make the other give into their whims; for River’s it’s Shuck’s blush, and for Shuck, his lover’s praise.

Shuck averts his eyes, his smile turning flustered.

River steps forwards to take his hands, a soft look crossing his face as he brings it up to his face to kiss at his knuckles.

“How was your day?” Shuck asks quietly.

The question throws him off slightly at the mundanity of it all. “It’s fine. A lot better now that I’m with you, but how about yours?”

Shuck laughs at how cheesy the line is.

River sets his other hand over Shuck’s heartbeat, feeling the steady thumping underneath the layers of fabric. Had it always been beating this fast? River feels as though his own heart was thrumming in turn.

“What are you nervous about, River?”

River chuckles and tips his head down enough to press a chaste kiss to Shuck’s cheek. “I’m not nervous. I’m just ridiculously happy. Always happy, when I’m with you.” 

“Me too.”

Each kiss that they share is always sweet, the soft press of each others’ lips feeling like they’re back watching the stars all over again.

The two stay close, holding each other, with no worries for the near future. This close, River can make out the faint smell of perfume on his lover. The beautiful smile of Shuck’s lips makes River’s head spin, and is probably what pushes River to pull out a tiny drawstring pouch out of his pocket. 

A ring falls out onto his palm, a simple golden band without any other embellishment besides a swirling engraving of floral tendrils. Shuck’s eyes go wide and his face becomes impossibly more red as River starts to speak.

“I love you, Shuck. I… I bought this for you,” he says instead of ‘I want to marry you’. He thinks Shuck understands just what he’s trying to say when he reaches into his suit pocket and takes out a silver band, the same one gifted to him by his sister.

“Funny you should mention!” he says, beaming adorably. River’s heart flutters, and he throws his head back in uncontrollable laughter. 

“I-- Oh seriously-! I can’t believe—” River says, between his fits of laughter, “Wait, wait, I love —“

Shuck moves first, grabbing River’s hand in his.

“Riverdude, Man of the River,” Shuck speaks with purpose. “Honestly, the first time I thought about this was during our journeys together, and I while I don’t think we’re quite ready for marriage yet, please let me ask you first.”

River laughs and urges Shuck on.

“I want to marry you in the future. I want to have you as a husband. Someday, would you take me as yours?” he asks, even though he already knows what River would say.

“Of course,” he croaks. “Of course I will.”

And just like that, Shuck slips a ring onto River’s finger.

River clears his throat dramatically, preparing himself for his own pre-proposal.

“I have seen you through rough places of your life,” he starts with, not knowing how else to begin, “and have stood by your side as you suffered grief beyond what I could ever imagine.” He hadn’t practiced this, only ever making it to a bullet list before many else, but he spoke with his heart, beating not through a gentle rhythm, but with the words that spilled out of his mouth.

“My dearest love, it was an honour to have journeyed by your side. Ever since we found each other, you have stood by me, and I stood by you. When I wasn’t there with you, you have kept me in your heart, heavy as it already was with a sadness that I could never truly grasp.” He watches as Shuck’s eyes start tearing up, both hands at his face to cover his sniffling. River reaches one hand out to him to grasp it, and he can see the lovely smile that Shuck had been concealing.

“Through our time alone, you let me see that heart a little more, and made room for me inside of it to share what affection I could. Through our times on the battlefield, through all the times I have confided in you, your trust in me never wavered, nor I in you, and you had always accepted the fragments of my own heart, stringing them together to form the most beautiful of adorations than I could ever have wanted.

“With this ring, I hold my heart for you to take, so I may fully devote myself to you, and you alone. I want nothing in return than the honour of being by your side, and the pleasure of owning a permanent place in your own heart.” River is dangerously close to crying, as well, and he has so much more he wants to say, but with his love staring at him, he couldn’t let him wait longer.

He would have the rest of his life to tell him everything, after all.

“I want to share my life with you, and hear your heartbeat more with each day that passes, for now as your partner, and later as your husband.”

“There you go again, trying to one up even my proposal, huh?” Shuck laughs to hide his embarrassment.

River can’t take his eyes off of Shuck even if he wanted to. “Shuckmeister, sole Ruler of the 34th Rule, and the only one who will ever hold my heart, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” he whispers, and lets his beloved slip the ring onto his finger.

Shuck kisses him again, grabbing onto River as tight as he could, and pulling his beloved impossibly closer. His hair pins pop out of place and release brown locks into soft waves that River runs his hands through.

“Mmh, you’re always so needy,” River croons against him, chuckling. “I think I know what you need. So how about it? Right here, or in the throne room, you want me to fuck you?”

Shuck’s response is instantaneous.

“No.”

It takes River aback a bit, but he quickly shakes it off. “O-Oh. That’s fine, too, of course. I won’t do anything if you don’t want-”

“No.” Shuck just grins, placing a finger on River’s lips to shush him. “Because it’s your turn to be fucked.”

Oh.

Oh, fuck yes.

River smiles, pulling his lover, his husband-to-be(to-be) closer to claim his lips, pliantly moaning in the other’s mouth as they work to shrug off each useless article of clothing.

They’re all the warmth each other needs, and they’re completely stripped bare save for the shiny rings on their fingers.

“I love you, Shuck.”

“I love you, River.”

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


Schroder bursts through the door.

“SHUCK!”

Shuck isn’t shocked at all. If anything, it helps him work better; the sudden appearance of the other man via bursting through doors is a welcome thing that he’d sorely missed over the past few weeks.

“Oh hi, Schro-”

A saddle is thrown at him from across the room, briefly knocking the air from his lungs.

“Time to make good on that promise!” He says, and Shuck turns to see his face flustered for some reason. Did he run all the way to his room? “Horse race! Right now! Ride or die, chump!”

Shuck was  _ not _ a chump.

It doesn’t take long into the ride for Shuck to realise that the horse race was, in fact, a cover for Schroder’s true intention of dragging Shuck far into the woods away from the castle and from any prying eyes. Really, it’s less of a race and more of a pleasant stroll, and Shuck would take any chance he can get to sneak off with Kris.

Shuck thinks Schroder has something to say to him.

“Are you-”

“Are you and Riverdude even married?”

Shuck doesn’t even bat an eye. “What, me and him? We’re pre-engaged.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I’ve told you before. It means we’re engaged to be engaged.”

_ That makes even less sense, _ Schroder thinks but doesn’t say because he knows Shuck would just give him another cryptic answer about it.  _ Maybe it’s just a stupid joke. An inside thing between him and Riverdude. _

“So you  _ are _ married.”

“Pre-engaged.”

_ Oh, now you’re just being coy to annoy me! _ Schroder thinks but doesn’t say AGAIN, because Shuck would just annoy him even more. “But you never take it off. Why don’t you?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to.”

Schroder pouts, spitefully riding ahead and away from his brother’s teasing and waiting for him to catch up. It takes a while, because obviously Hoops is the superior horse to Kris, isn’t that right, boy? He likes to think that Hoops just scoffed in response. Truly, the best stallion.

When Shuck finally catches up, he resumes his line of questioning. “They’re rings you only got for a spur of the moment promise, right?”

“Yup.”

“And this whole pre-engaged business is all just a story that you and Riverdude laugh about.”

“Yup.”

“So a small memento shouldn’t play too big a role in your life now, correct?”

“Makes sense to me.”

“Then you should take it off.”

“I can’t do that.” 

Schroder yells and whines on about how ‘UTTERLY INFURIATING’ and ‘ABSOLUTELY HORRID’ Shuck is being, but his shit-eating grin tells Schroder everything he needs to know about the situation.

“Shuck, I’m serious. You see how many women are after Riverdude, now, don’t you?”   
  


Shuck just giggles. “Oh... I’m not too worried about that. He won’t return any of their feelings, you know...? Not even for any men.”

“And how can you be so sure? Riverdude’s gonna marry someone for real someday, you know?”

Shuck averts Schroder’s gaze at that. Oh? What’s this? Shuck gets a wistful look in his eyes as he looks off into the distance, as if he’s reminiscing, or maybe even recalling a sad memory. “Oh, I know that. You wanna know how I know...?”

Wait, was Shuck really already married to Riverdude? It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch. And if they’re so comfortable with each other which meant that they _had_ to be dating, it’s no wonder Shuck would be so coy about it now! If he and Riverdude really were married, that’d definitely explain why Shuck never took the ring off. It’s their wedding band! Some of his friends from the school of sorcery were already engaged to each other, too… 

He turns to Schroder, who waits with eyes wide open, expecting answers. “How?”

Shuck gives him another shit-eating grin and shows off the shiny ring on his finger. “Because we’re pre-engaged.”

  
  
  
  
  


_ An epic ballad of The Shuckmeister’s journey was composed over the years, by none other than the Man of the River, and while the details of their romance were uncovered, the two denied any connection. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god it's finally over
> 
> i can't believe i finally finished the rule 34 thing god bless

**Author's Note:**

> just managed to submit this right before the deadline, just like life


End file.
